Intertwined
by ShortySC22
Summary: AU after OotP Draco, Ginny and Harry's lives become intertwined. See how they cope after the fall of Voldemort.
1. Chapter 1

Two years after Voldemort's defeat, Harry Potter wondered what his life would have been like if Voldemort were still alive. Would he have continued fighting? He knew why he had done what he had done, but now all that mattered was getting a good night's rest. He had been out of the spotlight since disappearing into Muggle London several months ago; keeping contact only by Muggle means and almost completely ridding himself of magic. He rationalized this by saying it was to keep his sanity and he would return after he felt secure. Shortly after midnight, Harry sat on the couch and looked for something interesting to watch on the telly. It was not unusual to hear noises outside, he did live in a busy neighborhood after all. The neighbors usually received visitors at this hour and he assumed that the knocking was coming from their door.

When the knocking didn't go away, he realized that the knocking was coming from his door. Rising from his position and yelling that he was coming, he peered through the door hole, wondering who could be there at this hour. He recognized the top of the head; it was obviously a Weasley by the red hair. When he opened the door, he was pleasantly surprised.

"Ginny? Is that you? Oh Ginny!"

"Hello Harry."

"Wait, how do I know you are who you claim to be?" Harry had become suspicious after Voldemort's defeat, knowing that the remaining Death Eaters were out to get him.

"I sent you a silly Valentine when you were twelve. I hid from you the whole summer before that. Your godfather is Sirius Black and can turn into a Grim. Your father was an animagus. What else?" A small whine coming from Ginny's direction caused Harry to divert his attention away from the youngest Weasley at his doorstep. It was at that time that he saw the little bundle in Ginny's arms. Shock washed over him and the questions just rolled off his tongue.

"Where have you been for the last four years? What is that in your arms? Have you even gone to see your family yet? How did you find me? I don't use magic and have wards all around me, how?" he babbled on and on, until Ginny opened her mouth to answer all of his questions.

"It's late Harry, and I'm exhausted. I'll answer the simple questions now and explain everything to you in the morning. I found you using this," Ginny held up a necklace that Harry had given her for her seventeenth birthday. "Do you remember this?"

"How could I forget? But that doesn't answer how you found me. I should be unplottable, untraceable, and completely hidden."

"I'm sorry. You're the first person I thought of going to. You're the only one who would listen to my story without judging me first. I used this necklace to find you. Don't tell me you've given up magic too?"

"Well, most of it. How much news have you heard in the last four years?"

"Hold on, I'm getting there. I know most of what has happened, filtered of course, since I've been in New York and since I've left. That's about all I'll tell you about those four years for now. Other than this little bundle of joy: my daughter Cassie. Say hello to Uncle Harry, Cassie." At this, Cassie cooed before falling back to sleep.

"Who's is she?" Harry asked as politely as he could.

"Please, Harry, I promise I'll tell you. I was just wondering if you'd allow us a place to sleep for the night. I have everything I need for Cassie and myself in my bag."

"Gin, it's late. You can stay, but only because I'm too tired to argue with you right now. There's a spare bedroom upstairs on your left. You're welcome to use it for tonight, but we'll see how much longer you can stay after you tell me everything in the morning." Ginny hugged Harry as best as she could and planted him a quick peck on the cheek before heading up the stairs. Harry shook his head and wondered why he had agreed to let her stay here. What had compelled him to say yes? Sure, she was like a little sister to him, but why had she chosen him? She had an extensive family that had grown a bit in the past four years. Maybe it was because she had known that he would be the only one who would react this way. Ginny had an uncanny way of reading his mind and knowing his reactions before they happened.

The next morning, Ginny woke up and checked on Cassie, before heading downstairs. She was surprised that her little daughter was able to handle it so well, but she knew that it was because Cassie was identical to herself, who handled most situations rationally. When she had reached the kitchen, Harry had already made toast and a pot of coffee.

"How did you know these were my favorite things?" Ginny asked him.

"I spent a week in the US. Most of them drink coffee and I figured you would have blended in well. You wouldn't have wanted any of us to find you; you had hid so damn well. What were you hiding from Gin?" he asked, not beating around the bush and wait for Ginny to tell him everything at her own pace. She had promised she would tell in the morning and it was morning now.

"Where do you want me to start?" Ginny seemed apprehensive at telling this story, she assumed Harry would not want all of the details.

"The beginning is the best. And don't leave out too many details, after all, I want to be able to understand everything too," he urged, wanting her to start soon. She took a deep breath before beginning.

"Five years ago, I was just eighteen and fresh out of Hogwarts, when I met him. He was every girls' dream and I was lucky to have landed such a guy. Rich, handsome, but far out of my reach. Circumstances had brought us together and we could not be apart," she paused here, unsure of how to answer what was coming.

"So who is this amazing mystery guy?"

"Harry, don't interrupt, let me finish. He was Draco Malfoy." Harry coughed on his coffee and barely swallowed.

"Draco Malfoy? The Draco Malfoy? The one who cursed your brother and whose father is responsible for the Chamber of Secrets? That Draco Malfoy?" Harry would never be able to understand Ginny's logic, or the way she liked to spring things on people.

"Yes, Draco Malfoy. We immediately realized that if we wanted to be together we could not live here. He would have become a Death Eater and I would have had to fight him. So we ran. Our families would never have accepted the other in that short amount of time and it didn't matter that we had to leave everything; we've been in hiding for almost four years. We left the day after we were married in the Muggle World with Andromeda and Ted Tonks as our witnesses."

"Wait, wait, back up a second. It's 'Ginny Malfoy' now? And Andromeda knew and never told your mother? I just don't believe Andromeda to keep such a secret from Nymph either," he muttered to himself when Ginny began again.

"No, it's Ginny Weasley now. We divorced after a nasty fight, but that will come later. Yes, Andromeda had to keep it a secret. After all, she was our Secret Keeper. We feared for our lives. After we got settled in New York, life moved on and we dealt with as little magic as possible, but of course it was hard for two purebloods to completely rid ourselves of magic. One year into our marriage, we were blessed with a beautiful son, whom we named Orion Arthur Malfoy, after both of our families. Orion was one of Draco's grandfathers; I never remember how many greats it was. Anyways, we raised him fine, agreeing on everything. We chose Blaise Zabini to be Orion's godfather. Life was fine and it didn't matter that we were still in hiding as Voldemort could still come after us. It was only after we learned that Voldemort had been defeated, when our problems began. He and I argued over everything. I wanted to come back so Orion could meet his grandparents. Draco wanted to stay in hiding, with only Andromeda coming to visit, as she continued to do so. Little Cassiopeia Molly Malfoy was born about a year ago, in fact she just celebrated her first birthday two weeks ago. We chose you to be her godfather. Last night was the last straw between Draco and me. That's when I finally decided enough was enough. He'll be returning shortly, I imagine, announcing Orion as the Malfoy heir, while Cassie's name will be changed to Cassandra Molly Weasley. Does that answer your questions?"

"Most of them. But why me? Why not your parents, as it was obvious they were part of your argument. And why Blaise as Orion's godfather and me as Cassie's?" Harry continued to question Ginny, still confused. There was a lot of information for him to take in at once and he had so many questions still to ask her.

"Like I said, you're the only one who I trusted enough not to yell at me. I know it was irresponsible of me, but I was in love. I thought love conquered all, but it's not true and here I am. Blaise was chosen in part because he was Draco's most trusted friend and because he was the only one we both could agree on. Draco also knew how much I wanted you to be a godfather to a child, so I hope you'll accept this," she sighed, relieved to tell someone the story. She had kept all of her emotions inside for the last few years.

"Ginny, I'm honored, but why Andromeda? Your parents would have kept your secret. Even I would have done it for you."

"But Harry, would you have done it for Draco? Draco didn't, and still doesn't, trust any of my family. I don't trust most of his family, but I would put my life in the hands of Andromeda, as would he. Plus we were living as Muggles in New York. We had to make sure that we found someone who would be able to sneak away to visit us and inform us without drawing attention to herself. Ted and Andromeda were the only relatives Orion and Cassie ever met. But now will be the hard part. Draco and I agreed not to have any contact. I put myself in a difficult position, didn't I?" She cupped her face in her hands and leaned on the table. Harry moved towards her and put his arms around her gently, not knowing how else to handle the situation.

Screams came from upstairs and snapped Ginny out of her trance. She dashed up, knocking Harry over as her motherly instincts took control. Harry came with her, as he wanted to get a good look at the little girl that was now living with him. At midnight, he was unable to get a close look at her.

When he walked into the room Ginny stayed in, he saw a transformation from the stuffy old guest room into a playful baby's room. Ginny was singing softly to Cassie, rocking her back and forth. She turned around and offered Cassie to Harry. He reached out for her, his eyes opening wider as he took in Cassie's beauty.

"Oh Gin, she's a miniature version of you," he said softly. He played with her soft red curls and tickled her, making little Cassie smile.

"Yes, except for her eyes, exactly like her father's. Just like how you're a miniature version of your father except for your eyes," Ginny said with pride in her eyes. Ginny sat down on the bed she had transfigured as Harry played with Cassie, almost as though Cassie was his own child.

"One last question," he added, when he began to rock Cassie back and forth to get her to fall asleep. "What's going to happen to you and Cassie now?"

"First, I'm going to go home and just introduce my daughter, Cassandra Weasley. No one will know her father. If they ask, I'm just going to lie and say I don't even know myself. They're going to ask where I've been and I won't lie about that either. I've been in New York as a Muggle for four years now. That's all they need to know. Harry," Ginny looked at him pleadingly, "you won't tell them, will you?"

"If it's what you want, then no, I won't tell them. But when Cassie's older she deserves to know the truth. I assume we'll be hearing about the new Head of the Malfoy family and his new heir. You did know that Lucius died just after Voldemort was defeated, right?" he almost couldn't believe that he was agreeing to Ginny's scheme. Lying to his two best friends and also his adopted family? It would be a hard task and he did not know how long he'd be able to keep it up.

"Draco wanted to attend the funeral. We almost came back, until we heard about the uprising among the remaining Death Eaters. Draco knew no matter how much he wanted to attend the funeral, he couldn't risk my life and Orion's life. Orion's especially now that he was the new Malfoy heir. I was just "Lady Malfoy" now, but Orion inherited millions the moment Lucius died." Ginny was glad that Lucius was dead. Now, he would have no influence over her son, even though she knew that she would not see her son for years, if ever again.

"How did you survive as a Muggle without any money? I can't imagine the two of you working amongst Muggles, I'm sorry," he laughed as he tired to picture Draco working amongst Muggles. By now Cassie had fallen asleep and Harry put her gently down.

"Draco made a large withdrawal from Gringotts before we left and had it all converted into dollars, which made us more money than if we had converted it to first pounds and then dollars. We lived comfortably as Muggles, trying not to spend too much because we never knew when we would return to the wizarding world. Let's go downstairs, it's obvious you have more questions and I have a few to ask you," Ginny responded. Both of them headed into the living room, sitting on couches opposite each other. The room was comfortable and had an odd familiarity that Ginny could not place. She kept glancing around trying to figure out where she had seen it last.

"It's modeled after the Burrow. I have to confess, I have not been a part of the wizarding world much myself. I'm about due for a visit. I'll catch you up a bit on relationships. Most haven't gotten married, they're still waiting I suppose. But Ron and Hermione got married almost immediately after Voldemort was defeated, waiting just enough time to see if your owl would come. They wanted you there Gin, Ron was hurt the most by your disappearance," Harry added with sadness in his voice to echo Ron's own sadness. He fiddled with his thumbs and did not know where else to go. Who else would he have to tell her about? What else didn't she know?

"I assume you know about Nymph and Charlie, if you've been in touch with Andromeda. Who would have imagined you marrying Nymph's cousin?" The world was full of surprises, he added mentally.

"Nymph? Is that what she's going by now? Andromeda told us about that, but didn't mention too much. I also know……… about Percy. She only brought the most important news to us, and kept family things to a minimum, knowing that Draco and I only tolerated each other's family slightly." Percy had been killed just before Voldemort's defeat and Ginny was saddened to learn this. Even though she had not spoken to her brother in years, he was still her brother.

"Yeah, Nymphadora still hates her full name and thinks Dora is too childish and Tonks became too much for her, I guess. Plus I started calling her "Nymph" then Charlie did, and now it's a term of affection for her. Most still call her Tonks though. When was the last time you heard from Andromeda?" he asked, wanting to know how much he would have to tell her. Where were the pictures, he wondered, of the weddings? That would be the best thing to show her.

"Yesterday, right after Draco and I came out of hiding. She was alone, but Ted probably knows now as well. We let him in, knowing she would not be able to keep a secret from her husband. Are you even connected to the Floo Network?" If he was, she would contact Andromeda right away and let her know she had arrived safely. Andromeda had become a surrogate mother to Ginny while she was in hiding and helped her through both pregnancies and daily life.

"No. I do have Hedwig though if you need to contact Andromeda, I can see you're worried. It's in your eyes. Does Draco know you came here? and where did he go?"

"Draco most likely went to Malfoy Manor to greet his mother and introduce the Malfoy heir," Ginny added the last bit with disgust, "and yes, he knows I was going to you if he needed to contact me for any reason, but I doubt it. The argument was not pleasant and I don't think I'll speak to him for years." Harry had leaned back and relaxed as Ginny became more at ease with him.

"Hedwig's most likely upstairs in the other guest room. Come on, let's write the letter and invite Andromeda and Ted over. But before you do, there's one more thing I have to tell you. Nymph gave birth just over a week ago to a little girl whom they named Lyra. Although there are no more Blacks alive, the tradition still continues," he muttered to himself Harry got up and climbed the stairs, motioning Ginny to follow him.

"How many guest rooms do you have? Tradition is very important to purebloods, you know that. Draco insisted on naming our children after his mother's parents, Orion and Cassiopeia Black. I liked the names myself." She looked at the Muggle pictures that lined the stairwell and wondered why there were no wizard pictures, when one wizarding photograph caught her eye, "Harry, who are these people, smiling?" It was a wedding picture, but she didn't recognize most of them. They seemed familiar but she couldn't place it.

"That's my parents' wedding. I have pictures of your brothers' weddings upstairs in my bedroom. Here's a quill and parchment for your letter, I'll leave you be." He moved to walk out of the door, but Ginny grabbed his wrist. "Wait. Stay, Harry, please."

Ginny sent the letter off with Hedwig but had no idea how to even begin to talk to her own family. Maybe just showing up would be the best. What would her mother say? She began to pace back and forth. What about her brothers? How would they react to little Cassie? Cassie was now her entire life. One day, and already she missed Orion horribly. How would she be able to deal with the fact that she couldn't be there for all of Orion's life? She sat down on the bare floor and cried, not realizing Harry was still there.

Harry moved over and wrapped his arms around her while she laid her head down on his shoulder. He added, "Gin, I'll be here for you as long as you need me to be." They sat there and only moved when Cassie cried. 


	2. Chapter 2

  
"I have to face them. I have to face my family before I face Andromeda. Otherwise she'll give me a lecture I don't need right now. Harry, would you mind coming with me?" she begged, wanting him to come. He was always the big, strong protector when she was at school and hopefully he would protect her from her own family.

"If we're going to see them, we should go now. The Tonks' won't be there, but everyone else will be there to celebrate Lyra's birth. I have a feeling you will steal her spotlight. But I'll lead you. You can Apparate with Cassie to the Burrow, right? I'll go first, but you better be right behind me," he added. Ginny scooped Cassie into her arms and grabbed the basic baby supplies. Harry disappeared with a pop and she knew it was now or never. She was scared, but hid her emotions to keep Cassie calm and with another pop they arrived at the Burrow right next to Harry.

"Are you ready?" he asked gently, squeezing her hand with his.

"As ready as I will ever be," she whispered, mostly for her own reassurance. Reaching her hand up to knock the door, she jumped back when the door opened and there stood her mother, looking weary.

"Harry, good to see you. Ginny? My baby? Is that you?" Mrs. Weasley waved her hand in front of her face like a fan, trying to keep herself cool.

"Yes, Mum, it's me. This is my baby Cassie," Ginny handed Cassie to her mother, "say hello to Nana."

"She's an angel. How long have you been in the area? Do you have any idea how worried your father and I were? Ginny, where have you been? You've missed so much. You're just in time for Lyra's introduction to the family. And Harry, don't think you're getting out of this. How long have you known where Ginny's been?"

"Slow down Mrs. Weasley. Ginny showed up at my house very late last night. I'm sure she'll tell you in due time, but right now, I think she wants to see everyone. Where's Nymph?" he questioned. Harry didn't want to abandon Ginny when she needed him, but he knew she would also have to be independent. He figured she would be okay with her mother, who was coddling her granddaughter. Slipping out back, he entered the backyard, to be greeted by screams in every direction. Nymphadora Weasley spotted him and walked towards him first.

"Harry! Wotcher! Would you like to hold your goddaughter?" Nymph asked with her usual jubilance. He had been pleased when Charlie and Nymph had announced him as godfather and he only hoped he could be like his own godfather.

"I'd love to," he responded as the proud godfather. Today Nymph had decided to mimic a Weasley style, with light red hair, as a contrast to her daughter's own dark red hair, a combination of her natural hair and Charlie's hair. Lyra was too young to display any Metamorphagus powers, if she was to have them at all. While holding Lyra, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny walked out with Ginny carrying a squirming Cassie. Mrs. Weasley, knowing how to get the attention of the crowd in her backyard, used her fingers to whistle. The crowd became silent as murmurs started before Ginny began to speak in her gentle voice.

"I've been in New York as a Muggle for these past four years to protect myself. Now is the time for me to come out of hiding and introduce my daughter, Cassandra Weasley. I'm so sorry for everything, and Charlie, I'm sorry for ruining Lyra's day," she mumbled, trying to hold back her tears. Charlie was the first to walk towards her and hug her. As he wrapped his arms around his baby sister, Charlie whispered in Ginny's ear, "It doesn't matter. You're home, that's more important. Cassandra is beautiful, just like her mother." He rubbed little Cassie's head and gave Ginny another hug. That's when Ginny announced that she was sorry she couldn't stay any longer, but that it was time for Cassie's nap and Ginny was tired after traveling. She added that she'd be staying with Harry if anyone needed to contact her. Harry decided now would be a good time to excuse himself as well.

As soon as they arrived at the house, Harry started preparing dinner for Andromeda and Ted while Ginny put Cassie down for her nap. After Cassie was settled in, Ginny headed into the kitchen to help Harry.

"Thank you," Ginny whispered. "You have no idea how much it means to me that you're willing to drop everything to help me, especially after I vanished like that."

"What was I supposed to do? Turn you away. Gin, you know that I wouldn't do that. Besides, I have this huge house and no one to share it with. I don't mind the extra company. Would you chop up the onions?" he requested. Harry was preparing stew for the Tonks', knowing how much they enjoyed his stew: a mix of beef cubes, carrots, onions, celery, and homemade dumplings. In addition to the stew, he also decided to serve chocolate cake for dessert. His kitchen was a Muggle kitchen and he did everything by hand, seeing no need to use magic when he was capable of doing it himself. The only sounds were the gentle tapping of the knife on the cutting board and the tick of the clock. Ginny had talked enough and was preparing herself for the evening's discussion, knowing she would be in for an earful.

At five to seven, the doorbell rang and Harry opened it, greeting Andromeda and Ted, who had brought their favorite wine. He ushered them into the living room just as Ginny came in with Cassie. Dinner was almost ready, but they would first make small talk.

"Cassie, say hello to your Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted," Ginny prodded as Cassie smiled when she saw the familiar faces. Andromeda made baby noises and Cassie cooed at this. Ted smiled when he saw how happy Andromeda was with children. Andromeda replied, "Now I hear you have you own grandchild. She's beautiful."

"So you've met little Lyra Weasley? A little darling, if I do say so myself. I hope you don't mind Harry, but I invited Nymph and Charlie over. After all, the gathering at the Burrow was only for the afternoon and Nymph said she'd be here around 7:30." Ginny knew what Andromeda was trying to do. She wanted Ginny to face her family, and that if she hadn't already done so, she'd be faced with her older brother at dinner tonight.

"What have you told your family Ginny darling? We wouldn't want to spill anything to them if you aren't ready to tell them everything," Ted added. Although his Hogwarts days were over, Ginny thought, Ted would always be the kind, loyal Hufflepuff who was worried about others before himself.

"This is my daughter Cassandra Weasley and that I have been in New York as a Muggle to protect myself. That's all they know. I can't tell them. Ron would never speak to me again if he knew everything; he still believes that Draco's a replica of his father," she said, standing her ground. Ginny defended him, even though she wondered if he would defend her too.

"Shame, dear, that you've chosen to hide her name as well. Cassiopeia was my mother's name. But it is ultimately your choice. Draco is neither his mother nor his father. Do you have any plans now?" Andromeda asked, as a typical Ravenclaw who always thought of the consequences and the future.

"She's welcome to stay here as long as she needs to," Harry said for the first time. He observed the reactions between Andromeda, Ted, and Ginny and realized how much Ginny had changed in the last five years. She no longer relied on her own family, but instead on her ex-husband's family. He was happy that she had chosen them. After all, he would trust them with his life as well.

"I don't know how I'll be able to live without Orion. I thought this arrangement would be fair, but it's not. I miss him terribly," she said somberly. Ginny bowed her head, as though she could not bear to think of her precious son. Soon, he would be announced as the Malfoy heir and she, his mother, would no longer be a part of his life.

"You did the best you could," Andromeda began when the doorbell rang. Harry went to answer the door and Nymphadora almost toppled over. Charlie was holding Lyra and just smiled at his beloved wife. Harry shared a grin with Ted before ushering everyone into the dining room where the table was set for six. Cassie and Lyra had their own seats set apart from the table. Serving the food, Harry and Ginny made sure everything was perfect and said grace. Dinner was peaceful, which made Ginny suspicious. She knew in her heart that Nymph and Charlie were buzzing with questions. Not wanting to leave Ginny alone with them, Harry asked her to serve the chocolate cake.

They thanked Harry and Ginny for the wonderful meal before settling in the living room. Nymph talked excitedly about Lyra and how blessed she felt. She added that she didn't know how she would survive without Charlie. Ginny took that to mean that they wondered who Cassie's father was, but she was not going to tell them. Eventually, she would have to but now was not the time.

The small talk became too much for Ginny and she excused herself so she could put Cassie to bed. After Cassie was sound asleep, she heard the door slam shut and wondered who had left. As she pondered whether it was Andromeda or Charlie, she leaned over and smiled at her sleeping baby. She heard footsteps coming up the stairs and wondered who would be coming up. Luckily it was Andromeda who just gave her a gentle hug and said good-bye, reminding Ginny to keep in touch.

"Wait, Andromeda." Andromeda paused before leave Cassie's room, waiting for Ginny to speak. "Did Charlie and Nymph leave?" Ginny was sure that the slamming door that she heard earlier was her brother and his wife. She knew it was getting late, but nevertheless, was still hurt by the fact that her oldest brother did not at least peek in and say good-bye. "Yes, Ginny. They felt it was getting to be a bit late for Lyra. Charlie asked me to say good-bye as well as his thanks for the lovely dinner," replied Andromeda with the gentle calmness that most only wish for.

Shortly thereafter, Harry poked his head and whispered thanks, before heading off into bed. Ginny stared at the ceiling, thinking back on how much her life had changed since she had last been in England. Now she was divorced with two children by one of her family's enemies. Of course, no one would know Orion was her child, but that did not matter. As long as she and Draco knew the truth, it did not matter. Cassie was fatherless, but it did not matter. What pained her most was knowing that Cassie and Orion would be separated. They had been torn apart during the years that they would have truly understood each other, especially since they were so close in age. Ginny reflected on her own relationship with her brother Ron and wished Cassie would have an overprotective brother.

What would happen when Cassie and Orion attended Hogwarts together? Orion, even as a three-year old, showed signs of a typical Slytherin, in fact, one might go as far as to say a typical Malfoy. Cassie was a typical Weasley and would most likely be sorted into Gryffindor. Even further separation between the two siblings.

Harry climbed into his own bed and cursed his luck. It was a good thing Ginny did not stay too long at her parents' house because otherwise she would find out that he had not dated since they had broken up. After 5 years, he could not recall why they broke up but now she returned to him. His heart was torn now, should he tell her how felt or should he keep his mouth shut? For now, he surmised, he would keep his mouth shut and just remain friends with Ginny, who was now back in his life. The worst pain was the fact that she had not trusted him when she left. Instead, she trusted a woman she had met just a few times. Though of course, learning that she had dated Draco before she vanished hurt his pride. Then he wondered what Ron would say when he learned that his baby sister now had two children and was once married to Draco Malfoy, Ron's enemy during school. He also did not know how long he would be able to live with Ginny, knowing his heart wanted to be joined with hers. For tonight, he felt he had enough excitement, between visiting the Weasleys, cooking, and having Andromeda and Ted over. Tomorrow would be a new day, a new adventure. 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I'd like to thank reitashnehelena for reviewing and Mia for beta-ing this story.

Cassie was a sound sleeper, usually woke up after Ginny ate breakfast. This morning was no different. As Ginny made herself some coffee, Harry came down the stairs and helped himself to some breakfast. She thought back to yesterday and wondered what Harry did for a living. He didn't mention anything about calling in to say he would not show up, like her father used to do when she was child. She made a mental note to ask him about it and decided to first drink her coffee and read the Daily Prophet, which had just come. She thought it was unusual because she did not remember Harry receiving the newspaper yesterday, but she was tired yesterday.

"Oh Gin, look! Why, it's Malfoy! And I'm assuming the child that is standing beside him is little Orion?" Harry knew that this would make front page news, why wouldn't it? Draco Malfoy was now head of the Malfoy family, and of course with Sirius dead, he was the closest male relative in the Black family. Both families were prominent families and now with the mysterious son, Draco would be attracting quite a lot of attention.

Ginny grabbed the paper out of Harry's hands and perused the article herself, making sure nothing suspicious was printed.

**HEAD OF MALFOY FAMILY RETURNS WITH HEIR!**

_Draco Malfoy, 24, has returned from his self-imposed exile, where he has been for the last four years. A spokesperson for the Malfoy family declines commenting on where Malfoy has been, responding that the family is grateful for his safe return. Draco's family includes his mother Narcissa Malfoy and his aunt Andromeda Tonks, both who decline comments. Mrs. Malfoy is happy to have her son home. The Malfoy family would also like to welcome the addition of Draco's son, Orion Malfoy, who has just turned three years old. When asked who the mother is, Draco says that she is a respectable witch who has since passed on and he wishes that it would be left alone, out of respect for his son. The Malfoy family is a prominent old wizarding family. Draco Malfoy replaces his mother as Head of the Malfoy family. _

"Well, what do you think of the new and improved Daily Prophet?" Harry asked. The Daily Prophet had changed in the years since Voldemort's defeat, as the entire Ministry had also changed.

"It's truthful, with nothing bad mentioned about me. Can't say anything bad about it. Anyways, I know you offered to let me stay here, but I can't very well take advantage of you like that," Ginny started, but Harry interrupted.

"I meant what I said. I'm the heir to the Potter and Black fortunes. I have so much money I don't know what to do with it, yet I've decided I needed consistency in my life and am resuming my old job in the Ministry. You're free to stay here until you can leave." Harry was insistent, almost pleading Ginny to stay. He needed her as much as she needed a place to stay and someone to be there for her.

"Alright, but I still want a small job. Andromeda's already volunteered to watch Cassie every day, so that's one less worry. Harry, I know you mean well, but I have to get on my feet again." Ginny did not want to be dependent on anyone else, like she had been so dependent on Draco and was now stuck in a difficult situation.

When Harry had come home from work the next day, he told Ginny about his day and asked how her own job hunt was going. She was having difficulty because she had been out of the magical world for so long. That's when Harry strung the news that Draco was now working with him in the office and that they would be working closely in ridding the world of the remaining Death Eaters. A friendship was bonded between the two men in the years that followed and they even enjoyed a few drinks together. Normally, both could hold their own with alcohol but one night Draco went a little too far. He began to spill secrets left and right, confessing to Harry who Orion's mother was, which Harry already knew. Harry wondered how long he would be able to keep up this double role, especially since Ginny and Cassie were still living in his house two years later. Giny had been able to find work in Madame Malkin's Robe Shop and Cassie was being left with Andromeda every day. The Weasleys all accepted Cassie almost immediately and wondered why Ginny had stayed in hiding so long, when she should have known they would have accepted her back into their lives without question. Harry was still the only one who knew the answer to that question and would probably be the only one for a long time.

The next time Harry had gone out drinking with Draco, they both remained fairly sober and actually had a decent conversation.

"It's been two years since I've returned from the Muggle World and I can't seem to find a nanny that stays more than two weeks. Orion's not a bad kid, you'll have to meet him judge for yourself, but he's an angel for Mother and I. Neither of us has the time to completely devote ourselves to the poor child and he's becoming more rambunctious. He's almost five years old now." Draco often talked about Orion and how he had lived in the Muggle World. Rarely though did he mention Cassie and Ginny, in fact Harry could only recall the one evening. It was unusual that Draco never asked about Harry's home life, considering he was never seen with anyone and never allowed anyone to come over the house.

"Have you thought about Orion staying with his precious aunt Andromeda?" Harry knew he shouldn't be meddling, but Cassie and Orion deserved to know each other. He would just have to make sure neither Draco nor Ginny ever found out about it, which he was sure Andromeda would take care of. Since Draco's return, he often visited Andromeda so that Orion would get to know more of his relatives. Harry didn't see Orion much and that did not bother him. It was easier to keep the secret when he wasn't staring into Ginny's eyes, which was one of the few similarities between mother and son.

"Not really. You think I should?" Draco looked at Harry with wide eyes, wondering why he had not thought of Andromeda.

"Sure. She's already proven that Orion won't get rid of her. He adores her and she adores him. Besides, she can handle kids. She's great with her own grandchild and now with another on the way, I'm sure she wouldn't mind learning how the mind of boy works. After all, Nymph says it's a boy and Lyra's looking forward to a little brother. She's a sweet little two year old." The Weasley family was multiplying like crazy. With so many children, there was bound to be lots of grandchildren to spoil. Every grandchild was given a red and gold scarf when they turned two. Harry realized that Orion was the oldest of all of them and still without his own red and gold scarf, though he was also convinced that Orion was pure Slytherin.

"Well, if you think so. I just don't want to impose at all on Andromeda, she's done so much for me already," Draco's voice trailed off as he realized what he had implied and drank more to keep himself from saying more, even though it usually had the opposite effect on him.

"Trust me, it would not be an imposition. But right now, I have to go home. It's getting late. G'night mate." Harry left out the little detail that Ginny would be worried if he was not home early. They may not have had anything more than a platonic relationship, but that did not mean they could not care for each other. Harry acted like Cassie's father, doing the things father would. He took her to Andromeda's home every morning and also treated Cassie to ice cream, visits to the zoo, and new toys.

Even though he had told Draco that he was going home, he first was going to stop at Andromeda's and inform her what he had just set into motion.

Andromeda listened as Harry explained how he encouraged Draco to send Orion to her, and how it was his way of allowing Cassie and Orion to get to know each other. He added that eventually either Draco or Ginny would tell the children. Most importantly, neither Orion nor Cassie must know who the either is and Draco or Ginny must not ever find out about this little deceit. At first, Andromeda was reluctant, but agreed knowing it would not harm the children and only serve to benefit them. After knowing he had succeeded, Harry kissed Andromeda on the cheek and bid her farewell, saying he'd see her in the morning with little Cassie.

That night Harry did not sleep well. His greatest was fear of Ginny finding out. After having her to himself for that last two years, he did not want to see her go. She meant too much to him to let her go. Now, he surmised, was the time to tell her how he felt.

Bright and early Harry went downstairs to begin fixing breakfast for Cassie and Ginny. When Ginny came down the stairs, Harry wondered how would be the best way to tell her. Postponing the inevitable would only hurt him more. He just hoped she would not run at his revelation. Cassie was still sleeping and that gave them a few moments of peace before the bouncing child would come down with boundless energy.

"Ginny?" Harry asked in a slow voice, almost as though he was afraid of her response, though he had not yet voiced his fears.

"Hmmm?" She responded in a distracted tone. Though when Harry sat down across from her and looked straight into her eyes, she stared back and peered into his own eyes.

Harry took a deep breath before beginning. "Ginny, listen closely. I'm falling in love with you. For now, I can't seem to recall why we broke things off so many years ago, but having you here has made old feelings resurface, stronger than ever." He stopped and let out a sigh he had not known he was holding.

"Oh Harry! I don't know what to say. You'll have to excuse me." Before he could see her reaction, she ran up the stairs. Harry's head crashed down on the table and he wondered why he ever thought telling her would be a good idea. Why did he ever decide to speak his mind? When Cassie bounced down the stairs, Harry woke from his stupor to take care of Cassie. It was obvious that Ginny was not going to come down.

After breakfast, Harry got Cassie ready and realized that Ginny was not even in the house anymore. He reached Andromeda's house and asked if he could stay for a few minutes. Now that Andromeda was living at 12 Grimmauld Place, Harry frequently stopped by to remember his beloved godfather. Andromeda ushered Harry upstairs, explaining that Draco would be here shortly and that Cassie must not be seen if they wanted to get away with this little plan to keep the siblings together.

"G'morning Andromeda. I do hope he behaves for you. Orion is a bit of a free spirit. Well I'll be back around 5 to pick him up. Bye little man, be good for Aunt Andromeda!" He lifted his son into his arms and gave him a gentle hug before walking out the door into the streets of London.

Harry, who had been listening from his hiding place on the steps came down to discuss what time would be good to get Cassie. He thought it would be best if he came before Draco, this way there would be less of a chance that Draco would run into Cassie. Andromeda agreed and also told him that she would tell Cassie and Orion not to mention playing together to their parents. Though it may be difficult, Andromeda added, Obliviation was something she was not going to think about. The whole reason she had agreed to Harry's scheme was to allow Cassie and Orion time to get to know each other. Though how long that time would be was still undecided. She knew Harry did not want to play the game long, only long enough for Cassie and Orion to remember each other in the future.

After Harry left, Andromeda smiled at her great-niece and great-nephew. It was a shame Draco and Ginny couldn't have worked things out better, but she knew better than to interfere in their lives. When they wanted to do something, they did it their way. Cassie and Orion got along well-enough and entertained themselves with many of the toys in the playroom. Andromeda knew what Cassie's favorite toys were, since Cassie had been coming here almost every day for two years. Now her brother Orion would join her.

Sneaking up behind her, Ted whispered, "You think they should have stayed together?"

"There was never a doubt in my mind that they should have. Look at how happy the children are. And Cassie loves her cousins. Orion doesn't know any of them because Draco forbids it. If we hadn't met him when we did, we'd be excluded from his life as well." Andromeda looked wistfully around, wondering what drove the family apart. She only knew a few little details and her curiosity only grew when she watched the children.

"Yes, the children are happy now, but I don't think it is because they're brother and sister. I think it's the fact that they have someone to play with. Besides, Harry has smiled a lot more since Ginny and Cassie moved in." Ted remained calm in his viewpoint, knowing better than to raise his voice in his own defense.

"Wait, you don't think he's fallen in love with Ginny?" Andromeda gasped. As though poor Ginny's life wasn't complicated enough, now her best friend, her trusted confidante, was falling in love with her.

"I think he already has fallen for her. And if he's not in love with Ginny, I don't think he'd willingly give up Cassie. Don't you seem how protective he is of her? Oh just wait until she starts dating," Ted added to himself, remembering the days when Nymphadora began dating.

"This certainly proves problematic, doesn't it?" Noticing what time it was, she walked downstairs, motioning for Ted to follow.

"How?" Ted was now confused, he saw nothing wrong with Harry falling in love with Ginny.

"They're too intertwined. Ginny lives with Harry. Harry works with Draco. Draco used to be married to Ginny. If Harry loves Ginny as much as you think he does, they will eventually get married and then Draco will find out and it will cause a whole new set of problems. But now, we have to worry about feeding our young guests." To Ted, that meant it was the end of the conversation and to leave the subject alone. Of course, he knew his wife would still think of it for awhile, until something new popped into her head.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks to my beta Mia and the reviewers lipglossnblack and me044. Thanks again and enjoy the next chapter.

For weeks afterward, Draco thanked Harry immensely for suggesting Andromeda. He beamed with pride anytime Orion brought home something he had made at Andromeda's house and Harry saw how hard Draco was trying not to be his own father. It was a shame that Cassie would not get the same love. Since Ginny and Cassie moved in, Harry was simply "Harry" with no special titles. He refused to be called Dad because he did not want to replace Draco, should he ever become a part of Cassie's life. Uncle Harry would have been the best option but he did not want to just be another one of the many uncles, Cassie had six, she didn't need another one. So he was simply Harry. He only half listened to Draco as he went on and on about Orion and how happy Orion was with Andromeda. Harry noticed that there was not a mention of Cassie which meant Andromeda was doing a good job at keeping secrets from Draco and Ginny. As usual, his thoughts led to Ginny. She had deftly avoided any mention of that one morning's conversation and instead resumed normal topics of conversation. It had become almost unbearable to have her in the house knowing that she would never be part of him. Sure, he was a part of her life now, but not in the way he always envisioned. He decided he would confront Ginny again, but this time with more precise words and at a better time, after Cassie was put to sleep.

By the time Ginny arrived home from work, Cassie was sound asleep. He made a nice dinner for Ginny, which they ate in silence. After dinner, Ginny spoke up.

"Sorry for being late. There's a large wedding coming up and in the midst of that, all the students are coming in for new robes. So I'll be working late a few nights a week. Thank you for taking care of Cassie," she added the last bit knowing how it would cheer him up. Lately he had seemed distant from her and she supposed it was all her fault. She should just tell him how she felt, but it was not easy.

"It's alright; I've had to work late before too." Now that he was in front of Ginny, he had no idea what to say. When he was in the mirror practicing, everything came out so naturally, but face-to-face was much harder. Luckily, it was Ginny who broke the silence.

"Harry, I know you and I haven't been close lately and it's my fault. Yes, we've grown close over the last few years, but I still have deep feelings for Draco. We were married for four years and had two children. He'll always be a part of my life and I want you to realize that. Though now it doesn't seem like a big deal, but he is Cassie's father and sooner or later she'll figure it out. She's a smart girl." Ginny ended it there. Harry fought off the urge to snicker, knowing she had no idea how smart Cassie truly was. Cassie had been keeping secrets about Orion Malfoy from her mother for weeks and he wondered how long Cassie could keep it up.

"Don't worry about it. I've had a long day at work too. I'll see you in the morning," he gave Ginny a quick hug before retreating to his bedroom and a deep slumber.

Knowing where he now stood with Ginny, he planned a nice evening for her tomorrow after work. Since Andromeda watched Cassie every day, he did not want to impose anymore on her than necessary. Mrs. Weasley always felt left out of her grandmother duties and Harry wanted to include her. After picking Cassie up from Andromeda's he told her she would be visiting Nana's house and she jumped up and down the entire way there. At Nana and Pop-pop's house, Cassie was spoiled. Most of the time, she was the only child there and received all of the attention. Today was no different.

"Thanks for doing this on such short notice Mrs. Weasley. Cassie loves being here." Harry shooed Cassie inside and she immediately ran to Ginny's old room, which Mrs. Weasley had turned into a guest room for Cassie. It was bright pink with a castle that stretched from floor to ceiling painted on one wall. Stuffed unicorns were strewn about and pretty princess dolls covered the bed. The room reminded Harry vaguely of the Disney princesses he'd seen in Muggle movies as a boy. She loved coming over, but Harry and Ginny didn't like coming for fear of revealing something about Cassie's past.

"You should bring her over more often, dear. Arthur and I miss our little granddaughter."

"I'll try to Mrs. Weasley. It was good seeing you again, but I have to go pick up Ginny. Is it all right if Cassie spends the night? I don't know what time we'll be done and I don't want to disturb you at all hours of the night." Harry asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"Of course! And she must stay for breakfast. I'll make her favorite pancakes. Chocolate chip! Don't worry about a thing, just have fun tonight." She pushed him out the door and he grew nervous. He had no idea what to say Ginny now, but knew he had to talk to her.

Ginny still worked at Madam Malkin's Robe Shop and he walked in just as it was closing. When he spotted her, he snuck up behind her and whispered her name in her ear. She jumped, but realized it was only Harry and smacked him playfully.

"Don't do that again! You're evil, you know that?" She smiled at him.

"No, I didn't, thanks for telling me. Almost done?" This was his chance.

"Yeah, I just have to close up." She bustled about the store, trying to get her work done faster.

"Good. Would you like to join me for dinner at this Muggle restaurant in London? It comes highly recommended." He forgot to mention that it was also supposed to be very romantic.

"Well who's going to watch Cassie? Andromeda and Ted are going to visit his relatives for the week and I know you've already taken off work to watch her during the day," Ginny would have continued on, had Harry not put his hand up in an effort to shush her.

"Your parents agreed to watch her tonight and tomorrow morning. Now let's just go and enjoy a nice meal, if you're up for it," he added, wanting to make it sound like he was not trying to force her into anything she did not want to do.

Dinner was peaceful, with mindless small talk and the food occupying most of their time. Afterwards, Harry suggested walking home, since his house was close to the restaurant. He thought now, as they were walking would be the best to time to approach the subject again. He had been practicing what he would say, though he knew it would not matter.

"Ginny?" He asked with his anxiety showing in his voice.

"Oh Harry, I had a nice time tonight. This was a wonderful idea; we should do it more often." She smiled, truly happy, for the first time in a long while.

"I'm glad. You deserved a night out. You do so much at home and for Cassie." When would he tell her? Why couldn't he say it? He could fight Voldemort and face Death Eaters, but when it came to telling people how he felt, Harry hadn't a clue where to begin, especially with Ginny.

"That's sweet of you." Ginny grabbed his hand, stopped, and turned to face him. "Harry, I've thought about what you said before." When she began, Harry's mind raced. "I've already told you that I could never forget Draco or the time we spent together, but I have also," she paused here, turning the words over in her head, only confirming what she had been feeling for the past few months, "developed feelings for you." Now, he gathered, it was his chance.

"Well, would you like to go out with me?" He said seriously, gazing into her eyes.

"I'd love to, Harry. We should consider this our first date." With that, she leaned up and kissed him on the lips, something she had not done since they were both in Hogwarts. Finally Harry had said it and he smiled.

The next morning Ginny was gone before Harry woke up, since he had taken off work, he slept in. She left him a little note though, asking if he could meet her at this little café for dinner and to leave Cassie with her parents again. Since Andromeda was not going to be around, he also volunteered to watch Orion, although he would not be able to keep him as long. Draco understood and agreed. Harry assumed Draco was just thankful someone was going to watch Orion.

"Nana, dis bretfast is e'en better den Aunt Dromeda's," Cassie said as she stuffed pancakes into her mouth.

"I'm glad you enjoy it. Hurry up before Harry gets here and you have to go home."

"Go home? Not go Aunt Dromeda's?" Cassie asked, with her mouth still full of pancakes.

"Harry said you were going home. Do you normally go to your Aunt Andromeda's?" Mrs. Weasley didn't like that her grandchild spent more time with a very distant cousin than her own grandmother, but she could not argue with her daughter, for the fear that she would chase her away.

"E'ery day Mummy works I go to Aunt Dromeda's. Un'ess Harry not works, den I stay wit' him." Cassie said, proud of her relatives.

"Well look at that, here comes Harry now," Mrs. Weasley said and Cassie climbed down her chair and attacked Harry. He grabbed Cassie and lifted her up in the air, which caused her to squeal with delight.

"How was the little princess?" Harry asked as he carried Cassie into the kitchen.

"She's a very well-behaved child; you should let her spend more time here." Harry noticed in her tone that she missed having lots of children around the house and with grandchildren she would be able to have the feeling she once had.

"Go home?" Cassie asked.

"Yes, we're going home." Harry responded as Cassie laid her head down on his shoulder. "I guess she's tired. Thanks for watching her. Is it okay if I bring her back for dinner?"

"She's welcome here anytime. Don't bother asking; you know we consider you part of the family, and besides, no one else ever asks about coming for dinner." Mrs. Weasley always cooked more than enough; one little mouth would not be hard to feed.

"I'll be back with Cassie around five, and it's just Cassie coming. Ginny and I thought we'd come over tomorrow for dinner." Harry waved good-bye and Apparated home just in time because Draco and Orion were ringing the doorbell nonstop, more than likely it was Orion who was ringing the doorbell. Harry put Cassie upstairs and opened the door.

"Hey Draco. Hello Orion."

"I really appreciate this, Harry. I don't think even a temporary nanny could handle Orion for a week. You sure you can handle it?" Draco seemed a little unsure, more because he didn't want Harry to get hurt than anything else.

"Trust me; I can handle a little five-year-old." Harry added mentally that he watched Orion often enough at Andromeda's that he could figure how to keep Orion and Cassie happy together.

"I'll be back around three; it's the earliest I can get off." Draco bent down to hug Orion and as soon as Draco left, Orion asked where Cassie was. Harry had to admit that Andromeda had trained Orion and Cassie well. Neither of them mentioned the other unless Harry, Andromeda, or Ted was there and only if those three were there.

Cassie and Orion played peacefully together upstairs and it was obvious to see the chemistry between them. Just before three, Harry put Cassie down for her nap so that would be no chance for Draco to know she was there. He motioned for Orion to follow him downstairs, where he picked out a nice children's book for Orion. They settled on the couch and Harry had just begun to the first page when the doorbell rang.

Harry got up to answer the door and greeted Draco, leading him into the living room where Orion was waiting.

"Hey little man, how was your day?" Draco asked his son and Harry realized how much Draco really had changed.

"I had fun! Harry's so nice! Can I come back?" Orion smiled from ear to ear as he bounced from the living room to the door.

"You may stay if Harry says it's okay, so ask him politely," Draco instructed his son, grooming him to be the quintessential Malfoy heir.

"May I come back Harry?" Orion asked, giving Harry the puppy dog face at the same time. Harry could not say no to the face, and also added that since Orion was such a good boy, he could come back tomorrow.

"Harry, you have no idea how much I appreciate this. You and Andromeda are the only ones who can get Orion to behave. We'll be back tomorrow at the same time." Draco grabbed Orion's hand and walked a few blocks before Harry could not see them anymore.

The rest of the week went smoothly and Draco, almost every night, wondered how Harry was able to keep Orion entertained without destroying his house. Harry simply shrugged and said he had a way with kids. When in truth, it was that Cassie and Orion loved being together and would do anything to keep together. Orion was lonely in his big manor with no one to play with and Cassie just enjoyed having someone older. She was the oldest of the all the Weasley cousins. Lyra was a year younger than her, Sophie who was Bill and Fleur's only child was two years younger than Cassie, and David who was Ron and Hermione's only child was just a few weeks old. Fred and George were bachelors just out to have fun. Nymph was about to give birth to another child, a little boy they had decided to name Ares Weasley.

Ginny and Harry continued to see each other, but still kept the news that they were seeing each other relatively quiet. Harry had drifted from Ron and Hermione during the years when he had given up most of magic. Ginny's parents knew about Harry and Ginny, as well as Andromeda and Ted, who were very close to the family.

For the next two years, Cassie and Orion spent every weekday at Andromeda's and also began learning and studying with Andromeda so they would not be far behind when they entered school. Harry worked in the same office with Draco, although now both of them mostly had a desk job, but neither minded. Draco was glad to have a safe job and still be a father to his son. After dropping Cassie off one morning, Harry walked in to see Draco packing up his desk into a box.

"What are you doing? Have you been promoted? Did you quit? Were you sacked?" Harry rushed everything in one breath; he was shocked to see Draco in such a calm state as he placed his belongings in a box.

"Harry, calm down. And to answer your questions, no, I wasn't promoted, nor did I quit or am I sacked. I'm transferring voluntarily to France. Orion and I need a change and Mother wants to move to a warmer climate. We're going to live on the French Riviera. I only took this job to keep myself busy, I never needed any money. I also want to escape this place. I want to avoid the rumors circulating about my family and shelter Orion from the rumors about his mother. It was nice working with you Harry, I'll see you around." Draco shook Harry's hand, picked up his box, turned around, and walked out of the office, and it seemed, out of Harry's life.

Harry stood rooted to ground, dumbfounded that Draco would just leave without discussing anything. Ever since Draco had started working at the Ministry, Harry assumed he was Draco's closest confidante, but obviously he was mistaken. With Draco now leaving Britain, Harry wondered what that would mean for Cassie, Orion, Ginny, and Andromeda. All of them would be affected by this move.

Please review. Thanks!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N Thank you again to my beta Mia.

Throughout the last two years, Harry had fallen in love with Ginny and knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, but he knew he could not propose to her. Harry was still famous and knew that if anyone found out he was engaged it would be all over the papers and the last thing Harry wanted was Draco learning about the engagement. But what literally seemed like the minute after Draco left the Ministry, Harry ran out to the nearest jewelers and picked out a gorgeous diamond ring offset by a ruby on one side and an emerald on the other.

Almost two weeks after picking up the ring, Harry confronted Arthur, who gave Harry his blessing as long as he promised to treat Ginny right and not leave her with a child, like the other man had. Harry agreed, saying he would treat Cassie like his own child, which he already did. The only thing left to do was propose to Ginny. Mrs. Weasley agreed to watch Cassie for the night and then bring her to Andromeda's house in the morning. He chose to propose to Ginny at the restaurant where they had their first date almost two years ago. He made sure the ring was in the box in his pocket and told Ginny to be ready at seven. They were still living in the same house where Ginny had come to him all those years ago looking for refuge. It was comforting, a small three bedroom house, just enough for their small family.

Harry and Ginny Apparated to the restaurant, where the waiter led them in immediately, ushering the couple to a secluded table. Harry arranged to be far away from people, lest others find out. He wanted to tell people in his own time and not let rumors circulate. Luckily, the papers had not caught on how serious he was with Ginny and she was only briefly shown in a few photos, but never mentioned by name. After dinner had been served and eaten, Harry spoke.

"Ginny, love, these past four years have been the most amazing years of my life with you by my side. I couldn't have thought of anyone more beautiful and kind to share them with. I will love you for eternity and would you do me the honor of marrying me?" Harry rose from his seat and knelt before Ginny, who had become speechless, thrusting the ring forward.

She pulled him up to kiss him and hug him, before replying, "Harry, I'd love to! Though I do have one concern." Harry was prepared for this and knew _he_ would always be an issue.

"Draco."

"Yes, him. If he finds out, I don't know. We promised to stay out of each other's lives and you know our wedding will be all over the front page of the Daily Prophet." Ginny did not want to confront Draco, nor did she want to tell Cassie everything. Cassie was only five years old and Ginny deemed her still too young to handle the truth.

"You don't have to worry about Draco, love. He's moved with his mother and Orion to the French Riviera. And we don't have to have a large wedding, just an intimate one with our closest friends and family." Harry hated being in the spotlight and actually enjoyed the thought of having a small wedding after seeing the hassle when Ron and Hermione got married.

"Oh Harry! Yes, I'll marry you!" Ginny hugged Harry tightly and he smiled. He would now be the happiest man alive because he had gotten what he had always wanted: a loving family.

The next day was spent announcing their wedding to all of their closest friends and family, deciding that they would have the wedding in a month's time, since it was a small wedding. Andromeda congratulated Ginny, and told her she hoped for the best. Ginny was happy and excited that she would be able to share this joyous occasion with her loved ones. Of course, the two other members of the Trio were part of the wedding party; Hermione was Ginny's maid of honor and Ron was Harry's best man.

The ceremony was a traditional wizarding ceremony, held in the Weasley's backyard, with Professor Dumbledore residing. For simplicity, Cassie was still going to call Harry by his given name, but now Mummy would sleep in the same bedroom because they were married. Cassie was still only five and many ideas were a little hard to explain to a five-year-old. As per tradition, the bride and groom were left alone for two days, in order to get a head start on producing an heir. Wizarding traditions went further back than Muggle traditions, Harry noted, and the traditions stuck for longer as well.

A few months later, Ginny announced she was pregnant and Harry could not have been a prouder father. When Ginny discovered she would be having twins, Harry decided it was time to move out of their old home and into a much larger one so that all of the children would be able to have their own rooms, as well as a playroom. The new house suited the growing Potter family and six-year-old Cassie Weasley loved the idea of a new house. She was too young to remember her old house. The only drawback, to Cassie, was that she was no longer going to spend every day at Aunt Andromeda's house. Granted, it had not been the same since Orion left, but she still loved her aunt and uncle. Ginny had decided to quit her job after the birth of the twins.

When Ginny went into labor, Harry rushed to St. Mungo's with Cassie after informing Mrs. Weasley, who would then tell everyone else. Andromeda came to St. Mungo's to watch after Cassie. After a long labor, Ginny gave birth to two healthy babies, one little girl and one little boy. Ginny and Harry had discussed many names, but had not come up with a single name for their children.

"Harry, look at what we have done: two beautiful new lives." Ginny smiled as the twins rested in her arms.

At that moment the little boy opened his eyes, Harry knew he had to name him James. He looked identical to his father with a little tuft of black hair.

"What do you think of naming our son James?" Harry asked Ginny, knowing it was not just his son.

"I think it is a wonderful idea. Welcome to the world, James Percival Potter," Ginny said as she gazed at her precious son. "But what about our little daughter?" The little girl had inherited her mother's red hair and her father's green eyes, making her look like Lily Potter, but Harry knew it wouldn't be fair to name them both Lily and James Potter. At that moment, the little girl fell asleep, while her brother screamed. Harry gently rocked James in his arms, like he had done for Cassie many years ago, and that's when an idea popped into Ginny's head.

"Serena. I think we should name her Serena Lily Potter. She does look so much like your mother," Ginny said, reflecting on the choice of names.

"I love my little Serena already. Think it's time for Cassie to see her new brother and sister?" Harry asked.

"Let her in, along with my parents and Aunt Andromeda. They've all done so much for us over the years; they deserve to see the little ones." Cassie walked in and saw the little babies, staring at them for a long time before her Nana said it was okay to move closer. Arthur walked towards Harry, who was still rocking James, and peered at his new grandson.

"That's three grandsons and three granddaughters. And what are names of the little ones?"

"Well this is James Percival Potter and Ginny's holding Serena Lily Potter."

"Fitting names. Let's hope they live up to their namesakes," Arthur added, and Harry knew that he wished they had given James the name Arthur as a middle name, but Harry couldn't very well blurt out that Arthur had another grandson.

Throughout the day, everyone came to wish the new parents luck and that if there was anything at all that they could do, to let them know. Hermione, always the thoughtful one, asked Harry to let her know as soon as Ginny arrived home from the hospital so that she could come over and cook meals for the family, knowing how hectic it would be in those first few days. Andromeda offered to stay in the house with Ginny and Harry, to watch over Cassie. The house was huge and had more than enough room for Andromeda and Ted to spend a few nights. While the twins were young, they would be staying in the room attached to the master bedroom and then would be moved into their own rooms.

The Potter family adjusted to life quickly. After two weeks, Andromeda and Ted decided it was time to leave and Cassie did not want them to leave. While they were staying with the family, they would pay the most attention to Cassie so that Ginny and Harry could attend to James and Serena. With them gone, Harry decided to talk to Cassie and explain to her that Mummy would now have to watch over her little brother and sister. He added that she might be able to help with some things. Harry had also quit work to stay home and knowing that Ginny would have a hard time maintaining a large house, he also acquired a house elf just to clean and tidy up. As the twins grew older, Ginny knew they did not take after her twin brothers. They were peaceful and it was hard to tell who was in charge. Though whenever Cassie was in the room, the Draco in her came out and she took immediate charge, leading her little siblings around. She accepted her role as the older sister and enjoyed her life in the new Potter manor. Every so often Cassie would ask why her last name was Weasley and not Potter, but Ginny and Harry would just shrug it off. Even though she asked about that, Cassie never once asked why she was told to call Harry by his first name, while the twins called him Dad.

The life-altering moment came when Professor Dumbledore visited the family.

A/N Thanks for reading and reviews are helpful, thank you.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Thank you for reading. This story was written before HBP and there are no spoilers for the story. This is an AU. I'd like to tahnk my beat Mia.

Cassie was nine years old and remembered sneaking downstairs and hiding out of her mother's sight. Cassie knew Harry would not have minded at that moment, but would have scolded her after Professor Dumbledore had left. Professor Dumbledore would stop by the house infrequently to check up on everyone. Her mother explained that he was good friends with Harry and left it at that, but Cassie was smarter than that. She knew something else was going on and always loved to listen to the conversations, even if she did not always understand what the adults were talking about. She only heard part of the conversation but was shocked with what little she heard.

"Harry, the Defense position has been opened again and I was wondering if you would like to take it. Your family would be able to live at Hogwarts, though you'd have significantly smaller living quarters." That was the Professor.

"Would you mind giving Ginny and I a day to think about it? I'm honored that you would think of approaching me, but we do need at least a day to discuss this." That was Harry's voice and Cassie wondered what would happen if Harry accepted. The family would be living in a very small area in the castle. She had visited Hogwarts a few times in her lifetime and knew that her space would be much smaller, but that would be other larger areas, like a full-size Quidditch pitch. Harry loved taking her flying, especially since her mother thought James and Serena, at three years old, were still too young to go flying.

Later that night, Cassie was about to fall asleep when she heard some yelling coming from her mother's bedroom. She knew it was not nice to listen to her mother's conversation, but she was a curious child and besides, Harry never seemed to mind. She was his big princess and Serena was his little princess.

"Why not Ginny? It's a good opportunity!" Harry yelled back. Cassie thought this had to do with why Professor Dumbledore had visited today. She knew he offered Harry a job and they were probably arguing over it. Cassie didn't remember very well the last time either Harry or her mother worked.

"Yes, but what about the children? Do you really want to raise the children at Hogwarts?" That was her mother's voice. From the tone of voice, Cassie knew that neither one of them wanted to back down.

"The children will survive if we both do a good job parenting! Besides, don't you want to watch the Sorting?" Harry added a bargaining chip. Cassie knew the Sorting was a big deal when you entered Hogwarts, but she had no idea what actually happened.

"Harry, dear Harry, you'll be a professor. That means you'll have to always be there for your students. When will you find time for the family? Not only the children, but your wife!" Her mother was practically yelling at the top of her lungs. She was surprised that James and Serena were still sleeping.

"I will manage to make time for the students while putting my family first, I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will understand. I also will just be a professor, not one of the Heads. Ginny, you've waited 11 years for this moment. Would you really give it up?" Harry was pleading with Ginny now, using her son against her. Cassie wondered what could be so special about this Sorting and why her mother had waited eleven years. After all, a child entered Hogwarts at eleven years old and Cassie wondered who was entering Hogwarts this year to make it so special. Oh well, she thought, I wonder who will. Continuing to listen, Cassie thought Harry would get his way and that would mean she would live in Hogwarts next year! She couldn't wait to see all the other students and see how they lived. Though knowing her mother, she would have to avoid all of them.

Before Cassie could find out her fate, she heard footsteps coming towards the door where she was hiding. She did not want to get caught and ran back to her room and hurriedly got under the covers before her mother checked in on her.

The next morning at breakfast, Ginny announced that the family would be moving into Hogwarts because Harry was going to be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. The twins seemed happy, but Cassie was unsure about moving to Hogwarts after thinking it over during the night. She was going to miss a lot of things, most importantly her Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted and her cousins Lyra and Ares. She barely got to see her aunt since she moved into her new house and Aunt Andromeda was the best. Lyra and Ares were sister and brother and were Uncle Charlie and Aunt Nymph's children who were closest to her own age. James and Serena had Jacques, Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur's younger child, who was a year older than them. They also had Emily Weasley, Ron and Hermione's daughter, who was a year younger than them. The Weasley cousins were a large family, with Lyra, Ares, Sophie, Jacques, David, and Emily, plus Cassie, James, and Serena.

In the next few weeks, the Potter family was quite busy packing and preparing for the move to Hogwarts. James and Serena were bubbly three-year-olds and got in Cassie's way most of the time, but she loved her little brother and sister. Life would be boring without them, she thought.

------

Orion Malfoy had not been back to England in almost four years. He enjoyed the French Riviera and had lost his pale skin tone, but he noticed his grandmother and father still had their pale skin and even paler hair. Orion's hair was a slightly darker shade than his father's, but that was not saying much. Now that Orion was eleven years old, he would be attending Hogwarts, something his father and godfather always talked about fondly.

Narcissa Malfoy was relieved to be back in Malfoy Manor. She never understood why Draco had wanted to leave in the first place, but she went along in order to be near her son and grandson, whose mother she still did not know. At this point, she was just glad her son included her in his little adventure. When the time came to send Orion off to Hogwarts, Draco wanted almost no part of it. As much as Draco wanted to be a better father than Lucius was, Lucius at least helped Draco prepare for Hogwarts and shopped with him for supplies every year. Not that she minded shopping, of course, but she thought Draco would want to take a more active role in his only son's life and also the heir to the Malfoy dynasty. At the rate Draco was going, it also looked like Orion would be the only Malfoy heir.

When the time came to send Orion off on the train from King's Cross station, neither Draco nor Narcissa wanted to send him off. Narcissa did not want to be scrutinized by everyone else and Orion had no idea why his own father did not want to send him off. Instead his godfather and pseudo-uncle Blaise Zabini would take him to King's Cross for the first time.

In wizarding households across the country, September first was a busy morning and a peaceful afternoon. And the Potter and Malfoy households were no exception.

Nana and Pop-pop Weasley had showed up to help with the finishing touches. James and Serena decided now would be a good time to unpack some of the boxes and Cassie was following her mother around constantly. Orion, on the other hand, was rushing around to pack a few last minute items before Blaise picked him up. When Blaise finally arrived, both Narcissa and Draco had wished him luck and urged him to write often before dashing off to some important meeting.

Orion always knew he was different in his family and that his father and grandmother treated him as such. He had no idea who his mother was and knew that his grandfather Malfoy had died when he was a little baby. No one talked about anything before he was three years old; it's almost as if he did not exist. Orion was eleven now and thought he was mature enough to handle anything. He was glad to be back in England where maybe he would be able to obtain the answers to some of his questions. His Aunt Andromeda, who was really his grandmother's sister, would be the only one who would tell him anything. It had been almost four years since he spent some time with her and he missed her. Aunt Andromeda was a cool aunt and did not make him act like a proper gentleman while he was over. Everything was casual at her house and he loved spending time there, but he was glad that while he lived in France there was no nanny.

At promptly ten o'clock, Blaise showed up at Malfoy Manor and hurried Orion out the door, saying there would be time to chat once they arrived at the platform. There was no arriving fashionably late when Blaise was involved.

"How's my favorite godson doing?" Blaise asked Orion.

"Seeing as how I'm your only godson, I have to be your favorite. And I wonder why neither my grandmother nor my father wanted to take me here today." Orion was a curious child and always asked Blaise a million questions, knowing his grandmother and father would never tolerate all of the questions.

"I'm sure they wanted to be here, but they had plans. And don't you want to spend time with me?" Orion knew Blaise was just teasing, but he wished Blaise would give a straight answer.

"Yes, yes. But if I'm the Malfoy heir, which Grandmother constantly reminds me of, why are they not here to present me to society?"

"Orion, Orion. I thought your father would have instructed you better on society details. As the Malfoy heir, you were announced to society when you were born. Only girls are announced later in life when it suitable for them to find a husband. Your father doesn't follow all of the protocol simply because he wants to avoid the obvious question of who your mother is. Don't bother asking me, you know I didn't talk to your father before you were born."

"But why not?" Orion asked. "Why did no one talk to my father? Even Grandmother did not talk to my father. The only one who seems to know anything stopped talking to me years ago." The last statement perked Blaise's attention. As far as he knew, Draco had left the wizarding world for several years and had no contact with anyone in the wizarding world. The only thing anyone knew about Orion's mother was that she was a pureblooded witch who was no longer in contact with Draco. Draco also claimed she was dead, but Blaise didn't believe a word of that when he looked into Draco's eyes.

"Who talked to your father?"

"Well, Aunt Andromeda of course!" Orion said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"And how are you related to Aunt Andromeda?" Blaise could not recall any Aunt Andromeda and he was Draco's best friend, or so he thought until a few years ago. Unless Aunt Andromeda was one of Orion's mother's relatives. Except Andromeda sounded like a classic pureblooded family name, if only Blaise could remember what family………

"Aunt Andromeda is my grandmother's sister and is married to Uncle Ted." Ah, Blaise remembered, Andromeda Black. Who married the Muggleborn Ted Tonks and renounced her family. He was shocked that Draco still even spoke to his aunt, considering his aunt Bellatrix had tried to kill him several times before she eventually went mad.

The train pulled up then and before Orion had the chance to say answer anymore questions, he dashed on to the train with a quick good-bye to Blaise. Blaise waved good-bye and forgot about Andromeda for the time being.


	7. Chapter 7

Orion was one of the first ones on the train and had his choice for a compartment. He chose an empty one and settled in. Before long he heard many others walking by his compartment. Eventually many of the compartments filled up and two other students joined him in his. Orion was shy when meeting new people and rarely had to introduce himself since his father, grandmother, or godfather usually introduced him.

"Hello, I'm Alexia Wilkes. It is a pleasure to meet you, Mister………?" Alexia said, implying that it was now his turn to respond properly. Obviously Alexia had been raised with manners.

"Charmed, Miss Wilkes. I am Orion Malfoy," Orion responded, while the other person in the compartment still remained silent. Then Alexia nudged the person, who first grunted and then spoke.

"Alright, I'll get to it. I'm Sebastian Flint, a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Orion smirked at this, giving off the trademark Malfoy smirk.

"You'll have to forgive my friend here, Orion, he obviously has lost his manners," Alexia shook her head and shook her finger at Sebastian. Glaring at Sebastian, she continued, "You might want to find them before we reach Hogwarts. It's a wonder what House you'll be Sorted in. If I didn't know your family, you'd be a Hufflepuff."

"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff!" Orion added.

"Says who?" Alexia retorted, puffing her chest out and sticking her hands on her hip.

"My uncle Ted, he was a Hufflepuff. Of course, Aunt Andromeda always favoured Ravenclaw. Everyone else says I'm a natural Slytherin, destined to follow in my father's footsteps." Sebastian remained quiet during this exchange and it was obvious who would be handling all of the talking.

"Humph. Does that mean you're going to run off and come back with a child?" Alexia knew too much for her own good, but it was no surprise that she knew his heritage. It had been all over the Daily Prophet when he was younger.

"Leave him be Alexia," Sebastian said, hoping to avoid a full-fledged argument. Whispering to Orion, "I know how she can be, I grew up with her. It's best to end it now." Orion thought about it, before deciding to insult her a bit first. While he lived abroad, his father made sure Orion learned about the influential families from every House. Though not everyone conformed, most from a family was Sorted into the same House. The Wilkes family was known for being Slytherin, as well as the Malfoy and Flint family.

"You'd be perfect for Gryffindor Miss Wilkes. You're quite brave, taking on the Malfoy heir like that." He knew he shouldn't have used his name like that to flaunt it, but she was being a pain.

"Some Slytherin you are. Can't even stick up for your own," Alexia shouted, towards both Sebastian and Orion.

"Who says we'll be Slytherins anyway?" Orion asked when the compartment door opened. A young man entered, who was wearing Slytherin robes. Alexia looked ready to smack the young man, who had to be at least a Fifth Year because he had a Prefect's badge pinned to his robes. The young man spoke first.

"You ickle firsties ought to put your robes on now. We're almost there. Alexia come with me," the young man ordered.

"I don't think so Tristan!" Alexia replied defiantly, "I'm staying with Sebastian and Orion Malfoy. Besides I'm almost ready. Oh just leave me be!" At that last shout, the younger man, Tristan, walked out of the compartment and headed throughout the rest of the compartment. Alexia sat down and folded her arms across her chest. She muttered under her breath, but Orion could not catch what she was saying.

"Don't let Tristan bully you," Sebastian said, trying to soothe Alexia.

"Oh you don't live with a prat for a brother! Instead, you luck out with an older sister and a younger sister. And Orion over here gets to be an only child. Older brothers are the worst. Tristan's so protective of me!" The train stopped and the three first years headed for the boats. When they reached there, another young girl who introduced herself as Julia O'Brien joined them. They kept quiet on the boat ride to Hogwarts, amazed at the sheer size of the lake and how Hogwarts looked at night, wondering what Hogwarts would like during the day.

The first years all gathered in a hallway to await their name being called. Julia had vanished and it was just Alexia, Sebastian, and Orion again. Alexia decided that now would be a good time to rant about her brother again. Of course Sebastian had heard all of the stories, but Orion was a new audience.

"Sebastian's sister Marigold is a third year and really sweet. She's a Ravenclaw, so don't expect to see her too much, unless you want to live in the library. Tristan is a fifth year and a Slytherin. He's a Prefect as well, which gives him more authority. He's the only drawback to going in Slytherin. He hates me because I took away precious attention from Mother and Father." Names started to be called and Alexia stopped talking for a few moments.

When FLINT, SEBASTIAN was called, Sebastian ran for the seat, though he knew he'd be in Slytherin. No one in generations had been in another House until his sister came along and he was going to plead in order to make his parents proud. It was quiet for a moment before SLYTHERIN was called. "Yes!" whispered Alexia.

After many names, it was Orion's turn. He was nervous and hoped to make his own family proud of him. When he was called up, he heard several whispers amongst the students in the Great Hall, but he had been used to that. After all, he was the Malfoy heir. When he put the Hat on his head, he was shocked to discover the Hat was talking to him. _"My, my! A Malfoy at last! Haven't had one of those in a long time, especially not one as difficult as you. Such courage, such loyalty, such ambition. But I see a sneaky side in here."_ Please, Slytherin, Please. _"Well if you insist on it, you'd do well there, but Gryffindor could help you in many other ways."_ I insist. Make it Slytherin. "_Better be _SLYTHERIN!"

Orion let a breath go that he did not know he was holding in. He sat next to Sebastian and the older students congratulated him before focusing on the next student. Finally it was Alexia's turn. The Hat was barely on her head when it shouted out SLYTHERIN! Tristan jumped up at the moment and screamed "YES!" Alexia just hung her head down after her brother had just embarrassed her in front of the whole Great Hall. Professor Dumbledore then announced the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Harry Potter. Orion thought he remembered that name, but when he heard gasps throughout the Hall, he knew he was not the only one who remembered the name. But the face, Orion remembered his face in person. After the meal, the first year Slytherins followed Tristan, with Alexia, Sebastian, and Orion being the last ones to enter the Slytherin common room.

The next day, schedules were passed out in the morning. Slytherins had Defence Against the Dark Arts first with the Gryffindors. Orion wanted to make a good impression and urged Alexia and Sebastian to hurry in order to get good seats. Alexia insisted on making an entrance with one of the other girls sorted into Slytherin so only Sebastian followed Orion. Like expected, they were the first ones in the classroom. Professor Potter wasted no time in starting class and Alexia certainly made her entrance.

"Well, what do we have here?" Professor Potter asked when Alexia and her friend Felicity Avery tried to walk in the classroom.

"Sorry Professor, we got lost," Alexia spoke first, since Felicity was trembling at the prospect of speaking.

"In the future, it will be five points for every minute late. Is that clear to the rest of the class? Consider this your warning." He was a strict teacher, but Orion was anxious to learn. "This year we will begin to cover many of the Dark creatures. Today though, we will discuss the rules of my class. Take out your textbooks. Tonight for homework, read over the section on Kappas, prepare an outline for the next class and be ready to discuss them. In my class, I want this to be a place where we cannot only learn freely, but discuss freely. From today onward, there are no House boundaries. You will, however, sit with a person from another House. We'll arrange the desks in a circle for discussion days. For today's lesson, I will do all of the talking." Professor Potter continued to list all of his rules and when the bell dismissed them, he asked for Orion Malfoy to come up front.

"Yes, Professor Potter?" Orion asked respectfully.

"How's your father doing?" Harry asked; which shocked Orion, who was not expecting that question. Seeing Orion's confused look, Harry added, "We worked together when you were younger and were good friends. Do tell him I said hello. Run along now."

After Orion left, Harry set up the wards around the classroom and turned towards the empty chair next to him and said, "He's a fine young man. I wouldn't have believed he was a Malfoy." Ginny's head popped up as she pulled the Invisibility Cloak off of her head.

"Thank you for allowing me to watch this class. I'll come every Monday."

"You should be proud of him Gin, even if he is a no-good Slytherin." Harry stuck his tongue out at him, as a way of teasing her.

"Not all Slytherins are bad and Draco Malfoy wasn't all that bad or I wouldn't have married him," Ginny added.

"Whatever you say dear. But I have a class coming soon and you might want to check on the children. Watch Cassie carefully. You know she'll roam the castle if she's allowed to."

"Yes Boss. I think I can handle my daughter. Our children on the other hand…" her voice trailed off.

"Ha, they'll be fine. They love Grandpa Dumbadore already." Harry had taken the twins to visit Professor Dumbledore and immediately the twins dubbed him Grandpa Dumbadore, since they could not say Dumbledore yet. Cassie listened to Professor Dumbledore, knowing he would be her Headmaster in a few years.

- - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - -

The next two years progressed smoothly for the Potter family at Hogwarts. Cassie was disappointed that she was not allowed to mingle with the students, but she did not mind it that much. The twins loved living in the castle and grew tremendously. Ginny sat in on many of Harry's classes to watch her son become one of the best first years in Defence Against the Dark Arts. After only two years as a professor, Harry thought it was time to step down, for family reasons. He did not want to be a professor while Cassie and the twins were at school because then he would be accused of being unfair to them. Ginny agreed with Harry and Professor Dumbledore thought it was a brilliant idea; after all, Harry had broken the curse of the Defence Against the Dark Arts post by staying more than one year. With the first of the Weasley's entering Hogwarts, Harry decided it was time to move his family back into Potter Manor.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Enjoy this chapter, it was fun to write!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and related characters.

- - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - -

When September 1 came around, Harry offered to take Cassie to King's Cross Station, knowing Ginny did not want the possibility of seeing Orion or Draco. Cassie had been packed for weeks and Ginny could not believe her little girl was going off to Hogwarts. Now Ginny could no longer protect her. Cassie would eventually discover her past but Ginny was not ready to face that. She could not tell her little girl everything, just as she knew Draco would never tell Orion. Nana and Pop-pop had come to say good-bye the night before, along with all of her aunts, uncles, and cousins. That morning, only Aunt Andromeda came over in the morning as one last good-bye until Christmas and also to remind Cassie to be friendly if she recognized anyone.

Cassie was right on time for the train and said good-bye to Harry before getting on. She found a compartment with one other girl who was a first year like herself. The girl introduced herself as Ophelia Schwartz and Cassie introduced herself as Cassie Weasley.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back at the Platform, Harry ran in to Blaise Zabini on his way out. Harry at first didn't notice Blaise, and was surprised Blaise had recognized him, considering he was wearing sunglasses and a hat to cover himself up.

"Harry? Harry Potter?" Blaise asked.

"And you are?" Even though, Harry recognized Blaise, he wanted to make sure it was Blaise.

"Blaise Zabini. I haven't seen you since Hogwarts. I had no idea you had a child going off to Hogwarts this year. I know you have twins, but they're still quite young, aren't they?"

"Yes, the twins are just 5 years old. I'm actually just dropping my stepdaughter off. And what about you? I didn't know you had any children." _Small talk gets annoying real fast,_ Harry thought, _though it is dead useful_.

"Just dropping my godson off. You know Draco's boy, Orion? Well, he's my godson. I suppose you know him. He raves about you at home. He's going to miss you this year, y'know." Harry thought Draco must be upset by that; his son worshipping his enemy, even though they were friends for a brief period of time. Harry supposed it would be like Cassie worshipping Draco.

"It was good to see you again Blaise, but I really have to hurry home. Maybe I'll see you again at Christmastime." Harry had no idea what would happen at Christmas.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cassie and Ophelia chatted about the Houses, proving that there were good points to all of the Houses, even though Cassie wanted to be Gryffindor like the rest of her family. Ophelia was a second generation witch; both of her parents had been Muggleborns. Cassie has been raised to respect everyone alike, pureblooded, Muggleborn, and Muggles themselves. Cassie was pureblooded, or so her mother told her. It was loud outside of their compartment but they ignored it and settled into talking about their families, their dreams, and their hobbies. When they arrived at Hogwarts, they climbed into a boat with Timothy Matarazzo and Justin Thomas who talked about the castle and the lake that they arrived on. Cassie was in awe by what she saw.

When they began to call off names, Cassie was silent. She listened every once in a while to catch some of her classmates' names, but she missed most. One that stuck out in her mind was FLINT, AZALEA because she had such an unusual first name. But she was sorted in Slytherin. Timothy and Ophelia had been Sorted into Gryffindor while Justin was Sorted in Hufflepuff. Then it was her turn.

"WEASLEY, CASSANDRA!" No one ever called her Cassandra except for Nana when she was in trouble. Not even Harry or her mother used her full name unless they absolutely had to. When she put the Sorting Hat on her head, it spoke gently. _"Scared are you? Don't be. Though I suppose I do determine the rest of your life at Hogwarts."_ Cassie bit her tongue. Now she had more of a reason to be nervous. The rest of her life at Hogwarts? That was a long time. _"Oh don't fret. What ambition! What cunning!"_ Cassie thought about that for a second, those were two characteristics of Slytherin. Not Slytherin, she pleaded. Mum would be disappointed. _"If you say so, you're equally as brave. But your heritage is just as important. Use your instincts in_ GRYFFINDOR!"

_Yes_, she thought, _Mum and Harry will be so proud of me._ But she was curious about the last comment about her heritage.

Over at the Slytherin table, Alexia, Sebastian, and Orion were congratulating the new first years as well as talking about the other first years. Alexia commented on the hairstyles, while Sebastian was noticing the family backgrounds. Orion was bored, but his ears perked up when he heard the name Cassandra Weasley. He recognized that name and as soon as he saw the little girl, she reminded him of his friend Cassie that he played with while he stayed at Aunt Andromeda's. Could it be? Was this the same person? The ages would be about right. Well, he'd find out tomorrow. He was determined, another reason he was in Slytherin.

The next morning during breakfast the timetables were passed out. Orion asked Azalea Flint what her schedule was, knowing that she might have classes with Gryffindors. And just his luck! The first class was Potions with the Gryffindors. That's when he would go meet her. She had distinct hair, he couldn't miss her. Besides, Professor Snape was still his Head of House and would write him a nice note to be a few minutes late to his next class, or so he hoped.

Cassie was excited that morning until she received her timetable. Potions first period? How could they do that to her! Grandpa Dumbledore loved her! Not only was it Potions, but it was with the Slytherins! When she groaned, Ophelia asked what was wrong.

"Oh just look at what we have next. What a way to start off the school year. He's going to dock points, he's been wanting to for two years now."

"What do you mean by that?" Timothy, who was sitting across from Ophelia, asked.

"I lived here for the past two years. Professor Snape disliked me, but because I wasn't a student, he couldn't punish me. Now he has his chance." She tried to bang her head on the table, but Ophelia stopped her.

"Then let's not get on his bad side and arrive to class really early," Ophelia dragged Cassie up and tried to tell Tim to come too, but he was too busy eating still.

While they waited for the Potions classroom door to be opened, a few Slytherins walked by. Some of them glared at the little Gryffindors standing outside the door; most ignored them. One stopped by, with three following behind her. They were talking, but Cassie only caught parts of the conversation.

"Why are we doing this Sebastian?" the first girl said, she was also the smallest of the four.

"Because Orion said so. And Alexia's in a pleasing mood right now. And you're the lowest of the totem pole at the moment so you had to come with us," Sebastian responded. Orion, that name sounded familiar. Cassie remembered an Orion a long time ago when she was really little. But that was so long ago. That was when Orion and who Cassie assumed to be Alexia stepped out of the shadows.

When Orion saw the red hair, he immediately recognized her. She had grown. He tried to think about the last time he had seen her. He must have been about seven, which meant she was about five right before he moved to France.

"Cassie Weasley?" He asked, hesitantly. Cassie put her bag down. He moved closer towards her.

"Orion Malfoy?"

"Yes, that's me." The words were barely out of his mouth when she leaped up to hug him, since he was much taller than her. He hugged her back, while Sebastian, Azalea, Alexia, and Ophelia watched on. More students came past and luckily, Cassie let go just as Professor Snape opened the door.

"I haven't seen you in ages! Harry never talks about you anymore. And I suppose Aunt Andromeda's rules are still in place. She never ended them for me," Cassie added, referring to the rule that they were not allowed to mention the other to their parents or anyone else.

"How is Aunt Andromeda?" Orion asked.

"She's good. She's supposed to come visit me at some point, since Mum's worried. We can both visit. But right now I have Potions."

"After dinner, meet me outside of the Library, okay? And it was great to see you."

"Good to see you too. I'll be there." Cassie waved good-bye and settled in the Potions classroom, sitting next to Ophelia and behind Azalea Flint. Azalea turned around and asked Cassie how she knew Orion. He was easily one of the most popular Slytherins because he charmed them through his speech. Ophelia also wanted to ask, but Azalea asked first.

"Our aunt Andromeda baby-sat for us when we were little. It was just the two of us, so we grew really close until he moved far away."

"Are you related to him?" Ophelia questioned.

"Maybe. Possibly. But I don't think so. The only relatives we share are Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted, her husband. So it might just be a sign of respect, who knows." Then Snape rushed up to the front of the classroom, his robes billowing out as he walked. Class began, ending conversations. Another Slytherin girl sat next to Azalea.

Growing up in a family of Gryffindors, Cassie knew that Snape hated all Gryffindors, though he hated some more than most. Cassie was going to be one of those he hated more than most, and it wasn't even her fault. It was all because Harry had needed someone to pour the potions into Snape's goblet and Cassie was the only one capable of sneaking out and doing it. James and Serena were too little. And of course, Snape caught her on the fifth time, which resulted in a long punishment from both him and her mother. Harry didn't seem to mind, he was almost like another uncle to her. After all, he said it was her Uncle Fred and Uncle George's idea to slip the potion into his goblet anyway. Those were her uncles who ran the joke shop and gave her the little joke care package this morning. She would have to test a few of the things on the Slytherins soon. But not the nice Slytherins like Orion and Sebastian, though Alexia seemed too bossy and Cassie didn't like bossy people.

Other than Potions, the rest of the teachers were nice to Cassie, since they remembered her from the past two years. After dinner, Ophelia and Timothy were going back to Gryffindor Tower when Cassie stopped and headed towards the Library. She had been here for the past two years and knew her way around fairly well. When Ophelia noticed Cassie was missing, she dragged Timothy to Library with her. Timothy protested, but Ophelia was concerned about Cassie being alone with big scary Slytherins. Most importantly, they were older than her and she couldn't defend herself.

Cassie entered the Library and saw Orion sitting in one of the first tables. She bounced over to the table and sat across from and started talking right away, first wanting to know how France was and expressing how much she wanted to go to France. Before Orion got to answer, Ophelia and Timothy entered the Library and demanded that Cassie come back to the Common Room with them now.

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A/N: Let me know what you think!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, just playing a bit in the universe. Thank you to my beta Mia.

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"What do you mean you want me to come with you now?" Cassie asked. "Can't you see I'm talking to Orion?" She was frustrated. Why would her Housemates do that to her?

"He's a Slytherin and much older than you!" Timothy argued while Ophelia nodded her head. In less than a day, already the rivalry had begun between the Houses.

"Actually, I'm only two years older than her and she doesn't need your protection. She's like a little sister to me. After all, we might be related. We have the same Aunt Andromeda," Orion said calmly, even though he wanted to bash the Gryffindor's head in.

"I'm going to stay and talk with Orion, I'll be up before curfew," Cassie added, hoping that would get Ophelia and Timothy to leave. They reluctantly agreed and Cassie sighed. She just wanted to be left alone with Orion; they had so much to catch up on. Since she was five the last time she saw him, she didn't remember much about him. Besides, this would be a good way to get to know people from other Houses, she thought.

"It's a good thing one little Gryff is smart."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cassie demanded.

"You've figured out that not all Slytherins are evil and that we're not like the other generations."

"Of course not. And if you were evil, Aunt Andromeda wouldn't have suggested I be friendly to you," Cassie responded.

"She told you to be my friend?" Orion was flabbergasted. He didn't think Aunt Andromeda would do something like that.

"No, no. She told me to be friendly towards people I once knew them, or something like that. Anyways, did you like France?" Cassie asked, trying to change the subject to something a bit more neutral.

"It was awful. I didn't have anyone to play with besides my father, grandmother, and godfather."

"Don't you have any brothers, sisters, or cousins? Not even aunts and uncles?" Now it was Cassie's turn to be speechless. With a family as large as the Weasleys, she had plenty of relatives.

"My father's an only child. My grandfather's dead and was an only child. I'm an only child. And my grandmother had two sisters, Aunt Andromeda and Aunt Bellatrix. But Aunt Bellatrix went crazy and died before I met her, which my father says is a good thing."

"Well then you and I share some cousins. Because Aunt Nymph is Aunt Andromeda's child and Aunt Nymph and Uncle Charlie have two kids, my cousins Lyra and Ares." Cassie said, proud of herself for remembering that part of the Weasley family tree. It was always complicated, trying to remember how she was related to everyone.

"I don't think Father likes Aunt Andromeda much anymore. I haven't seen her since we returned from France and that was almost two years ago."

"I have an idea!" Cassie said a little too loudly, which caused Madame Pince to glare at her.

"What?" Orion asked.

"I think we should write a letter to Aunt Andromeda. We should all get together, the whole family."

"When?"

"Christmas," Cassie said with finality.

"What?"

"Well, that's when you and I can be there. I'm the oldest of all of my cousins and I'm only a first year. So Christmas would be the best time to get together."

"Alright I'll write the letter, you help, how's that?"

"Fine by me." Cassie said, moving to sit next to Orion.

_Dear Aunt Andromeda,_

_It is your great-nephew Orion Malfoy _**and niece Cassie Weasley**_ asking for your help _**and your approval.** _We were wondering if you would be able to host Christmas at your house so we could both we together and see you again. I miss you. _**So do I.**_ We think it's better if neither of our parents find out that we are consorting with each other._** Basically we don't want our parents to find out about us being friends. Orion likes to use big words. Oh yeah, and invite EVERYONE! I know you'll agree, after all, I'm your favourite niece.**_ And if it's at all possible, would you be able to invite my godfather Blaise Zabini? Let us know as soon as you have reached a decision, and remember, it's a secret!_

_Love,_

_Orion Malfoy_

**And**

**Cassie Weasley**

**PS: You can tell Uncle Ted, we trust him too.**

"You think that's okay?" Orion asked, unsure that it was a proper letter.

"Positive. This is Aunt Andromeda and it's better to be blunt with her, trust me, I know. She hates it when I keep secrets or dance around the truth."

"You know her better than I do. But moving on, what is new with you? Still living near Aunt Andromeda?"

"No, my mother married Harry almost right after you left and a year later my little brother and sister were born. They're twins, James and Serena. Then we moved to Potter Manor until Harry took a job as Defence Against Dark Arts teacher. I've lived here for the last two years, but Mum and Harry decided to move back to Potter Manor when I started Hogwarts."

"Sounds like you've been living a great life." Orion glanced at his watch, realizing it was time for Cassie to head back to her precious Gryffindor friends. "And you should also head up before all the Gryffindors have my head for harming one little Gryff. I'll use my owl to deliver this, don't worry." And with a wave of his hand, Orion vanished down one of the many hallways with the letter tucked securely in his pocket.

Cassie hurried up to the Common Room, excited that she had talked to Orion again. She hoped Aunt Andromeda would agree to their plan, it would be a great way for all of her relatives to get to know each other. And then Aunt Andromeda and Orion's grandmother could see each other again. What a perfect plan, she thought happily.

As soon as she reached the Common Room, Ophelia sighed with relief. She was worried about her new friend, especially with a Slytherin. While Timothy and Ophelia waited for Cassie to return, Timothy told Ophelia all about the Malfoy family's reputation, which did not ease Ophelia's worries at all. But when she saw Cassie smiling, she knew there was nothing to fear. Now she only had to find out what was said.

"What's with you hanging out with a Malfoy? Don't you know how evil they are?" Ophelia said.

"Orion's not evil. He's a cousin of mine, distantly, but we're cousins all the same. He's _family_," Cassie said, stressing family.

"I think we should leave Cassie alone. She's back safe, happy, and in one piece. Just be careful, alright?" Timothy, the voice of reason said. "G'night." A round of good nights could be heard throughout the Common Room as everyone headed up to their beds for a good night's sleep and a new day ahead of them.

After Orion visited the Owlery in order to deliver the letter, he headed into his Common Room where he found Alexia and Sebastian saving him a chair. He knew it was better to face them now and answer the questions now before they could find a way to twist his words.

"So how was the Little Gryff?" Alexia asked maliciously.

"She's a distant cousin of mine. She and I used to hang out together when we were little and were talking about our aunt. That's all that happened. If you were so worried, you could have saved me, after all, her little Gryff friends tried to save her, but I scared them off." Why couldn't they just believe him? Orion wondered.

Alexia went to speak again, but it was Sebastian who interrupted her. "Leave him be. They're distant cousins. She's a Weasley, typical Gryffindor. He's a Malfoy, typical Slytherin. Hey, where do the lines meet?" Sebastian asked Orion.

"My aunt Andromeda Black-Tonks. My grandmother Narcissa Black-Malfoy is her sister. Aunt Andromeda was a Ravenclaw and had a daughter Nymph who married Cassie's Uncle Charlie Weasley. That's how we're related. It gives me a headache."

"Well, that's settled. I'm going up to bed now. Good night," Alexia said with a satisfied smirk on her face. Most had no idea what had happened to the Black Family after Sirius had died, but Orion reminded her that the Black family lived on through his father and himself, even if he did not realize it.

The next morning at breakfast the morning owls arrived and Orion's owl dropped a small letter in front of him. Usually he received few letters and most of those were from his grandmother, but it was not her neat script on the front. What was more unusual was that it was addressed to him and Cassie Weasley. Carefully, and away from his friends' eyes, he opened the letter.

_To my favourite niece and nephew,_

_First, don't tell anyone you're my favourite. Second, I'm glad to hear from you both. I'd love to have a party at my house for Christmas. There hasn't been a Christmas at Grimmauld Place in almost twenty years. I'll make a traditional Black Christmas, seeing as how it would entice your grandmother to come. Ted and I will start planning now for a Christmas you will never forget. Enjoy Hogwarts and I wish you both the best of luck. Keep in touch with you dear aunt._

_Love,_

_Aunt Andromeda_

Orion knew Azalea Flint had Defence Against Dark Arts first with the Gryffindors and that's where he headed to meet Cassie. When he found her, he knew she would be surrounded by her noble friends, but he did not expect them to pull her behind them in order to protect her.

"Relax. I'm just here to deliver Cassie a letter her aunt wrote to both of us. If you'll excuse her a minute, I'll give her back before class starts," Orion said. Reluctantly, Ophelia and Timothy moved out of the way and Cassie gave Orion's hand a little squeeze, showing her gratitude.

"They think they're doing things right, but they're not. You got a letter for me?" Cassie said, letting go of his hand and reaching for the other hand, which Orion had lifted high in the air.

"Patience, Little Gryff."

"I'm not little!" Cassie protested.

"You're smaller than me and you're a Gryff. Thus, Little Gryff. But here's the letter. Read it during class and give it to Azalea to give back to me. Okay?"

"Azalea Flint? How do we know we can trust her?"

"I'm a Slytherin, they're not all untrustworthy. Plus, she can't read this letter. Aunt Andromeda is smart. Only you and I can read the letter. Good luck in class." Orion waved good-bye and as he turned around, Cassie reached out and hugged him, whispering him a thank you before skipping back to class.

Ophelia and Timothy were suspicious of Orion, but they could not voice their opinions to Cassie. When Cassie arrived at the classroom, the only open seats were next to Slytherins, luckily one of them happened to be Azalea Flint, who was Sebastian Flint's younger sister and someone Orion trusted. Cassie handed the letter to Azalea and asked that she hand it back to Orion. Azalea asked about Cassie's favourite Quidditch player and that conversation began a long friendship between the girls.

In the next few months, Ophelia and Timothy accepted the Slytherins and, during many of the shared classes, would partner up with a Slytherin. Cassie, Ophelia, and Azalea loved to look at the latest magazines and come up with extravagant reasons to wear some of the clothes. Even though Azalea was pureblooded, she held no prejudice against Muggleborns. Sebastian also agreed with his younger sister and spent time with other Houses, considering his older sister was a Ravenclaw. Orion spent a lot of time getting to know Cassie, which annoyed Alexia because she felt she had lost her best friends. Sebastian was more concerned with a Ravenclaw named Julia O'Brien and Orion was too busy with his little Gryff, as Alexia liked to call Cassie. Alexia hated that one little first year had broken the triangle and she was determined to get back at Cassie.

When Sebastian discovered that Julia had a crush on another boy, he was devastated and instead went to Alexia to talk to her again. It was then that he also noticed Orion was rarely around. He would come back late at night with piles of books. Alexia convinced Sebastian to ask Orion what he was up to, since Orion was no longer listening to her after she hexed Cassie.

"Where have you been mate? I never see you around anymore," Sebastian began late one night at the end of October.

"Took you long enough to realize. Alexia's been pestering me about it for a month now. Cassie and I are researching our parents. She knows nothing of her father and I know nothing of my mother, so we've been trying to find out if the papers have anything to say."

"But isn't Cassie's dad Harry Potter?" Sebastian was confused. He had often seen Cassie run in during one of their classes with Professor Potter and then run out just as fast, apologizing profusely.

"Apparently not. She says she's just always lived with him and called him Harry. She doesn't quite understand everything, other than that her mother married Harry when she was five and when she was six, the twins were born. All we've found about my father is this article," Orion handed Sebastian the article announcing his return and announcing Orion as the Malfoy heir. "My father doesn't mention anything, other than reassuring me I'm a pureblood. As though that has anything to do with it."

"You know it has something to do with it. Alexia is firm in her beliefs. Tristan may be a bit more modernistic, but Alexia is stuck in her ways. Azalea and Ophelia want to spend more time with Cassie and I think it's better. You and I need to hang out more often and regain the Power Trio of Slytherin." Sebastian, Alexia, and Orion were known amongst the Slytherins as the Power Trio because they had the money (Orion), class (Sebastian), and influence (Alexia). They were all strong in their own right and when they set their minds to it, they could accomplish anything. The only ones in Slytherin that were stronger were Tristan's little group of seventh years. All of the Houses had leaders and followers, but Slytherin was dominated by those with the most ambition.

During dinner the next day, Orion was focused on the article he found. Why would his father wait so long to return to the wizarding world? He knew his father left in order to be safe, but why return? It seemed like it would have been better to return sooner, why wait? He also knew his grandfather already died, but that did not mean much to him. Orion had never met his grandfather, though he had heard his grandfather was not nice person. Professor Dumbledore had made a speech, but Orion wasn't listening. Sebastian shook Orion out of his daydream.

"Did you hear what the old man said? There's going to be a special day planned for everyone on Halloween. I wonder what the old man's planning this time," Sebastian told Orion excitedly.

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed that and the next chapter should be posted shortly. Thanks for reading and please review.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N-Enjoy the story. Thank you to my beta Mia.

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Orion had asked what Cassie thought was so special about Halloween, since that was all she could keep talking about. She explained that it was an important magical holiday, but she didn't understand why. All she knew was that American Muggles celebrated Halloween by dressing up and going door to door to get free candy. Orion, knowing Cassie had lived in London most of her life, asked how she had any idea about American Muggle traditions. Cassie said her mother had lived there before she was born for a few years and enjoyed the tradition. It had now become a family tradition to dress up for Halloween and eat some candy. Orion was baffled now. His father had lived in the United States before he was born and once, during an argument between his father and his grandmother, his grandmother blamed Orion's rudeness on the fact that he had lived in the United States. That was the only time that he had heard about it, unless he counted the news article, but he never believed anything a new article said.

Cassie was sad that she would not be able to celebrate a traditional Potter Halloween. That was when she came up with her little plan.

A Hogsmeade weekend had been planned for the weekend before Halloween and Cassie, being a first year, needed someone else's help. She turned to Orion the next time they saw each other in the library.

"Orion, can you do me a favour?" Cassie asked nicely, while they were studying.

"Depends."

"Would you be able to buy me some fabric so I can make myself a Halloween costume? And oh yeah, will you dress up for Halloween with me?" Cassie, still just eleven, could pull off the pouty face successfully.

"I'll get you the fabric if you give me the money. But why do you want me to dress up?"

"I want you to dress up so I won't be the only one. Besides, it'll be fun. And Mum and Harry will send candy if we dress up. Harry's going to stop by on Halloween; he's got to talk to Professor Dumbledore about something. Please?" Now Cassie resorted to begging. Orion realized how desperate Cassie was to keep part of her family with her.

"I'll dress up if we find more people, okay?" After he had said this, he knew Cassie already had that in mind.

"Good, because Ophelia and Tim already volunteered. I was going to go ask Azalea after we finished. Would you mind asking Alexia and Sebastian? Or at least ask Alexia, you know she hates me."

"Sure, I'll ask them, but I won't guarantee a single thing."

"Alright, I have to meet up with Azalea. Bye Orion." Cassie waved good-bye to Orion and skipped out of the library in the general direction of the Slytherin Common Room, where Azalea would be waiting for her outside.

Orion thought about what he was going to do now. Alexia would need some convincing but Orion could probably get Sebastian to agree. Maybe he could even convince Sebastian's friend Julia from Ravenclaw and his sister Marigold. And if Alexia was doing it, he might even be able to convince Tristan, which would in turn persuade the Slytherins to all dress up. He had one week to accomplish all of these goals and first was Sebastian.

Azalea and Sebastian were both waiting outside of the Common Room because Sebastian felt it his duty to protect his little sister. When Cassie came up, she was at first hesitant to mention her Halloween plan to Sebastian, but realized that he would be just as open as Azalea would be. So she began.

"Hey, I have a favour to ask of you two."

"Depends on the favour," Sebastian replied, which designated him as the speaker.

"In my house, it's tradition to dress up for Halloween and give candy to each other. I thought it'd be fun if I dressed up and my friends did the same," Cassie said, leaving out the part about it being American and Muggle.

"It's not a Potter or Weasley tradition," Sebastian said, which surprised Cassie, who asked how he knew. "Simple, if it was a long rooted tradition, my parents would have pictures of your parents to make fun of them. Sorry, Slytherin thing."

"First off, Harry's not my dad. It's just something that we've done since my mum moved in with Harry years ago."

"Then where did the tradition come from? It had to start somewhere," Sebastian pointed out.

"It's an American Muggle tradition. My mum picked it up when she lived in New York before I was born." Azalea had been silent until this point, when she asked who Cassie's father was, if it wasn't Harry. "I don't know. Mum never talks about him and Harry just says it doesn't matter if we're blood-related or not, he still cares for me. Back to the point, will you dress up with me?"

"I'm in, only if you let us know how people dress up," Azalea added.

"I was thinking of dressing up like a princess this year, but people dress up as random things. Mum showed me pictures of people as vegetables, movie stars, witches, and some people get really creative. I was a pumpkin one year, a piece of candy another, and I was even a ballerina one year," Cassie said, her voice becoming more excited as she described the various costumes.

"I've got an idea. We should be a full regal court. You know, Muggle-style, since it's a Muggle holiday. Someone will be the king, another the queen, a prince and princess, and the various other people."

"Like a knight! Who saves the beautiful princess!" Azalea added.

"I think it's brilliant," Cassie said, "So far, Orion, Ophelia, Tim, and I agreed and now you two. Want to meet tomorrow so we can start planning the costumes?"

"The Library after dinner. I'll tell Orion. Night Cass," Sebastian walked into the Common Room.

"I think you're a genius. Oh yeah, you might want to get permission from Dumbledore so we don't have to wear our uniforms all day. But thanks for thinking of me. Bye!" Cassie thought asking Dumbledore would be a good idea and she knew he'd say yes. After all, he loved her very much.

Orion entered the Common Room after Sebastian and Azalea, both who filled Orion in on the details of the new plans. He approved of the changes and thought it would look better if they dressed similar. Azalea thought they should come with the different parts, but Orion though he should talk to Alexia before it got late. Azalea pleaded with Orion not to ask her, after all, she'd want to be the queen or princess. Orion added that they could just make her an evil queen. Azalea snickered at that. Alexia had just come down the stairs at that moment and Orion pulled her aside before anyone else could grab her.

"Alexia, I have a question to ask of you," Orion asked nervously.

She twirled her hair in her fingers while answering impatiently, "Get on with it."

"I was wondering if you'd like to dress in costumes for Halloween."

"Maybe, who else is donning costumes?" She continued to twirl her hair, acting as though she was not listening, though in reality she was listening very attentively.

"Well Sebastian, Azalea, Cassie and some Gryffs. Plus me."

"I guess so. Is it an all-day affair and what would I have to wear?"

"Cassie's going to get permission from Dumbledore so that we'll be allowed to wear the costumes all day. There's a meeting in the Library tomorrow after dinner. Think you can convince your brother to join us?" Orion hoped she'd be able to convince Tristan to join them. After all, he'd make a perfect king to compliment Alexia's queen. Unless they picked someone else to be queen. Perhaps Tristan's current girlfriend could be queen instead. There would time to think about that tomorrow during the meeting.

Cassie and Orion slowly spread the word about their little idea and several people showed up to the meeting. After presenting the general idea and reassuring everyone that they had Dumbledore's permission, she asked if anyone had any ideas for parts, or if anyone wanted to be anything in particular. At that moment, Tristan Wilkes and Marigold Flint dashed in, apologized for being late and sat down. They had come in holding hands and Ophelia spoke, "I think we've found our king and queen."

Azalea nodded her head in agreement, though Alexia protested, saying she should be queen. Orion eventually persuaded Alexia to be a princess instead, but it took a while. Initially they thought of a king, queen, prince, princess and knight, but felt they needed more in order to keep the ensemble.

It was Tim who came up with the next idea. "We need a dragon that the knight can fight because the dragon has stolen the princess, who's now a damsel in distress." Everyone agreed immediately, and started arguing about parts again. Alexia was now a princess, but not the damsel in distress.

"I'll be the dragon," Sebastian volunteered.

"May I be the damsel in distress?" Cassie asked.

"I think it's only fair that you're the damsel in distress. After all, this was your idea. Then I think Orion should be the knight who saves you," Tristan said.

"So who's left?" Orion asked after agreeing to be the knight.

"I need a part, as does Azalea and Tim. The rest of you have parts." Ophelia added.

"Oh can I be a priestess, please? The Druids certainly had one, and if not I'll improvise," Azalea said, hoping they'd agree.

"I think it's fine, umm, I want to be the squire or messenger. I'll be the one to tell the knight, Orion, when the damsel is in distress. How about that?" Tim asked. Everyone thought this would be a lot of fun and it turned out more like a mini play instead of a traditional Halloween, but Cassie was happy because she would still be able to dress up and her friends were doing this for her.

"Last is my costume. May I be the goddess that Azalea will worship?" Ophelia asked, already formulating how her costume would look.

"I think it's a brilliant idea!" Marigold said, "I'll help make all of the costumes, just let me measure everyone. I know all the spells and tell me if you have any ideas for your costume. I'll be in this area every day after dinner until we finish, how's that sound?"

"Thanks so much," Sebastian responded, "but I think it's time we head back to our common rooms. Night Mari, night little Gryffs." The Gryffindor first years scattered after Tristan gave them an evil look. Tristan, Alexia, and Orion left to give Sebastian, Azalea and Marigold a little family time. Marigold told them she regretted it, but she had an important exam to study for.

"Hey Sebastian?" Azalea asked as they headed back to

"What Azalea?"

"Do you ever wonder about Cassie and Orion? I mean, Cassie's never known her father and Orion doesn't remember his mother." Azalea paid close attention to what everyone said.

"Not really. It could just be a coincidence you know."

"But two people from prominent wizarding families just leaving and going to New York, since that's where both of their parents lived before they returned to England? I wouldn't say that's a coincidence."

"I would. Leave it be. Good night Azalea."

Throughout the following days, Marigold worked tirelessly in order to finish all of costumes in time for Halloween. They scripted the rest of the scenes during the nightly meetings in the library. Azalea stopped bothering Sebastian about her suspicions after he pointed out how different Cassie and Orion look and act. Early on Halloween morning, everyone gathered outside of the prefect's bathroom in order to change into their costumes. Tristan went in as Slytherin Head Boy and came out King Tristan of Hogwarts. Next was Alexia who came out as Princess Alexia of Hogwarts. Cassie came out as a damsel in distress, complete with long flowing hair. Sebastian looked like a Chinese Fireball when he had come out of the bathroom. Tim came out dressed as a simple woodsman, with Orion right behind him as a dashing knight. Azalea was the perfect priestess to compliment Ophelia's goddess. The goddess outfit was modelled after the Greek and Roman goddesses in mythology. Lastly, Marigold came out as the fair Queen Marigold of Hogwarts. As soon as she stepped out, everyone gasped. It was obvious she had spent the most time on her costume. Tim, Orion, and Sebastian all bowed down to her, while Ophelia, Azalea, Alexia, and Cassie curtsied. Tristan got down on one knee and kissed her hand gently. He rose up and laced his arm through hers, leading her towards the Great Hall.

When the group reached the Great Hall, few students were there, but those who were laughed at the group. Mostly they laughed because they had no idea what was going on or why a group of Slytherins, Gryffindors, and one Ravenclaw would dress in such an ornate fashion and get away with it. Professor Dumbledore merely smiled while Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall gaped, looking between the students and each other. They could not believe that Gryffindors and Slytherins would actually get along. Professor Dumbledore leaned over and whispered that it was young Cassie Weasley's idea and she had help from Mister Malfoy. The group vanished before most of the students woke up and alone, they would only get a snicker here and there.

Right after lunch, Sebastian as the Chinese Fireball kidnapped Damsel Cassie from her spot at the Gryffindor table. After he did that, Professor McGonagall told Professor Snape he should restrain his students better, but Professor Dumbledore, who was watching this with great amusement, asked the two professors to be quiet and watch the rest of the show.

A few minutes later, Timothy jumped up and ran over to ran Orion was sitting at the Slytherin table, shouting, "Good knight! You must save the Princess Cassandra, who is being held in a tower by an evil dragon. King Tristan and Queen Marigold wish their daughter returned safely. Please, you are our last hope." When he had finished his speech, Orion ran out of the room in the direction of Sebastian and Cassie. At that moment, Azalea went over to the Gryffindor table and got her knees in front of Ophelia. "Oh great Ophelia, Goddess of Safety! I pray that you return the princess home!" Lunch was over then and those remaining of the group congratulated each other on a job well done so far, but there was still the dinner performance. Everyone was really getting into character and having fun, commenting on how much they enjoyed Cassie's idea.

At dinner, it was Tristan and Timothy's turn first to speak and they stood in front of all of the tables.

"Your Majesty, I have told the great knight Orion, who has gone to look for your fair daughter, Her Highness Princess Cassandra." Tristan shook his head and waved Timothy off, but then Marigold and Alexia entered.

"Be nice, dear, the poor boy's done his best," Marigold said in the most regal voice she could.

"I wish I was kidnapped so I could be rescued by a handsome knight or prince," Alexia added dreamily. The food had not been served yet and by then some of the students wished the silly performance would end so that they could begin to eat.

Just then, Orion burst in carrying a stuffed version of Sebastian's costume to show he had slayed the dragon. Cassie, the dainty princess, followed behind. Sebastian snuck in from another entrance. Professor Dumbledore began to clap and urged the group to take a bow as most of the school joined in the clapping. When he had managed to quiet the Great Hall down, he spoke.

"First I'd like congratulate all of the students who have participated in today's little Halloween festivities that they created. I thought it was a marvellous idea. The rest of the school could learn from your example of Inter-House relations. Once again, a job well done!" Clapping began again, but it did not last nearly as long. Professor Dumbledore opened his mouth and the clapping stopped. "I'd also like to remind everyone that I had planned something special for Halloween. Today's feast will be grand, with each of you getting little crackers filled with candy, similar to Christmas crackers. Enjoy!"

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A/N-Thanks for reading and please review.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: This story has not been looked over by a beta. Please comment if you find any error or if you are interested in being a beta reader. Thank you and enjoy.

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Cassie was ecstatic that her little Halloween idea had gone over so well with the rest of the school. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were a little upset that they were not as represented as the Gryffindors and Slytherins, but mostly they were in awe that Gryffindors and Slytherins had collaborated on anything. Students whom she did not even know congratulated her after they found out she was the one who invented the whole scheme. The group of Slytherins and Gryffindors grew closer, with Alexia, Sebastian, and Orion tutoring Cassie, Tim, Fiona, and Azalea. Sebastian found out that his sister Marigold and Tristan were a couple when he walked in on them while looking for the empty Potions classroom. Marigold was embarrassed, but Tristan kept his cool until Sebastian ran out and immediately told Alexia.

Alexia had a mixed reaction. She had very firm beliefs that a Slytherin should only date one of their own, but Marigold had come from a strong Slytherin background, it was not her fault she had been Sorted into Ravenclaw. Alexia was happy and was already planning their wedding, even though Tristan rarely kept a girlfriend longer than a month, Alexia did not know that about her brother. Meanwhile, the teachers grew stricter on the first years and they needed more help throughout the following weeks. The third years tried their best to help the first years survive their classes. This only succeeded because they all worked so hard at it.

In the beginning of December, an owl arrived during dinner with two envelopes, one for Cassie Weasley and one for Orion Malfoy. After dinner, Cassie and Orion rushed to the library to open their letters. Inside contained an invitation to the Christmas Feast Andromeda was hosting and also a letter for both of them. Orion read his aloud first.

_Dearest Orion,_

_How has school been lately? I hope you have not gotten into much mischief, even though the mischief runs in your blood. I do hope both your father and grandmother can join us in celebrating Christmas, but if not, the invitation was addressed solely to you, and you may decline or accept if you so desire. If you are not able to stay at Malfoy Manor until the Feast, you are welcome to stay here at 12 Grimmauld Place. Kindly respond as indicated on the invitation, but do ask your father. I don't want to be on his bad side. Please don't mention who else is coming, though I did invite your godfather at your request. Let's keep it a secret, like we used to do when you and Cassie were little. Enjoy the rest of school and if you have any questions, your dear aunt Andromeda is always here to listen._

_Love,_

_Aunt Andromeda_

"Well, what do you think?" Orion asked Cassie.

"She's not asking much, now let me read mine and then we'll decide."

_Sweet Cassie,_

_How is my little niece doing at Hogwarts by herself and the first to go to Hogwarts? Quite the legacy you have to follow, between your parents and Harry, plus all of your uncles. Try to stay out of trouble, though from what I hear, you single handedly joined the Slytherins and Gryffindors for the first time in centuries. Congrats on that my dear. I spoke to Harry about the Christmas Feast and I'll be picking you up from King's Cross Station and bringing you back here, where your family will join you shortly. Charlie, Nymph, Lyra, and Ares will also be staying in my humble abode, this time try not to irritate your cousins too much. Remember our little secret! Study hard and prove you're an individual. As always, your uncle Ted and I are always here for you._

_Love,_

_Aunt Andromeda_

"What was the comment about 'try not to irritate your cousins too much'?" Orion asked curiously.

"Well, last summer, I turned Lyra's hair green to match Aunt Nymph's because Aunt Nymph is a Metamorphagus and likes to change her appearance a lot. Then last Christmas, I blew up half of Ares's Christmas gifts. Singed Uncle Charlie's eyebrows because he got too close to one of the gifts," Cassie smirked as she answered, proud of what she had done.

"That only tells me what you did, not why you did it," Orion pointed out. He was always looking for a reason behind something, and knowing Cassie, she would never do something unprovoked.

"I blew up Ares's Christmas gifts because he said I had no father, which I know isn't true. And I turned Lyra's hair green because she was making fun of Serena's eyes. Serena's eyes glow sometimes when you look at them funny. Luckily, Aunt Nymph happened to have green hair, but when I get emotional, I can control my magic."

"That's impressive, being able to control your magic, without a wand, I assume?" Orion said.

"Oh of course! Mum would never let me get a wand before I was allowed to. She's way too strict sometimes. But Harry, on the other hand, well let's just say when you're in Hogwarts you can get away with a few more things," Cassie whispered.

"So you used a wand before you started this year?" Orion questioned.

"No, just Harry realized I could control my magic, that I could direct it and he let me practice by deliberately provoking me." Cassie shrugged. She didn't think it was that big of a deal that Harry had allowed her to practice or that she could control her magic if she was emotional enough. To her, it was normal, though to most people Cassie's entire life would not be normal. Living with the famous Harry Potter alone put Cassie on a pedestal. Now with her own strange abilities, Cassie learned how special she was.

"It's extremely rare for a witch or wizard to control emotional magic, which is what you've been using. Most just sort of do it accidentally. Just be careful about who you tell, okay?"

"Why?"

Orion hesitated a moment. He had to remember Cassie was only eleven and that he was older, though only by two years, and that made a big difference in his mind. "People might try to exploit you."

"What's exploit mean?" Cassie asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"It means take advantage. Dark wizards might want to take advantage of the fact that you can control your emotional magic, which could be turned into wandless magic, if you practiced hard enough." Orion spoke slowly and calmly to make sure Cassie understand how serious this was.

"But Voldemort's gone!" Cassie hissed.

"Just because he's gone doesn't mean another won't rise to power. Give it time. They always do." That was something his father had drilled in his head since he was little and that Orion must choose for what he believes in no matter what.

"You mean not everyone has a little extra talent?" Cassie added meekly.

"No, why would you think everyone did?" This perked Orion's attention.

"Harry doesn't always use a wand. Sometimes he just thinks and an object appears. I know he's not just hiding his wand because the wand is on the table when he does this little trick. I didn't notice he did it until we moved into Hogwarts. I think Hogwarts amplifies his magic," Cassie responded, answering the same way her mother had explained to her.

"But he's Harry Potter! Of course he has something special about him," Orion answered as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"So? Mum can do stuff too!" Cassie snapped back indignantly.

"Like what?" Orion retorted.

"Like, like, like," Cassie stuttered for a minute before she remembered. "Mum can change her voice at will. Not just make funny voices, like a Muggle comedian, but she can actually make her voice sound like someone else's. And she can make her voice really loud by just thinking it or really soft. She scared me the first time she mimicked Harry. She perfected his voice really early."

"You're just a special family." Orion said, trying to make himself feel better.

"Who knows, maybe you can do something," Cassie thoughtfully said. "Mum once told me she didn't learn she could change voices until she graduated Hogwarts and I know Harry didn't learn he could do pure wandless magic until the end of his time at Hogwarts. Does anyone in your family have special powers?"

"Not as far as I know, but my father is very secretive about his family, as is my grandmother. Neither of them ever talks about my mother's family, so who knows. Not me, that's for sure."

"Well, remember the Christmas Feast, beg your father to let you spend the night. I can't wait to buy your Christmas gift!" Cassie added as she walked out of the library.

"See you later Cassie!" Orion waved good-bye and headed to the Common Room, where Alexia and Sebastian bombarded him with questions. It was unusual for owls to be allowed to deliver any mail at all after the morning post, so that was the first concern. Secondly, Orion had been gone longer than normal and Alexia had become worried about Orion. Sebastian seemed to be just going along with it because of Alexia, he could care less where Orion was or how long it took him. He knew that Orion would tell him everything later while in the dormitory.

Orion moved to a corner where three chairs were and promised to answer all of their questions. First was Alexia's question about who the letter was from, which led to more questions about his aunt Andromeda. Then Sebastian wondered what took so long in the library and Orion explained that he was planning part of the Christmas Feast with Cassie, as they'd be the oldest children and would have to figure out what to plan for their younger cousins. Those answers satisfied Alexia and Sebastian and the three of them headed off to bed.

That night Orion snuck back down to the Common Room in order to write a letter to his father. He knew he would have to beg to stay with Aunt Andromeda and that it was crucial he stayed with her and Uncle Ted.

_Dear Father,_

_I hope this letter finds you in good health. The purpose of this letter is to ask your permission that I may stay at Aunt Andromeda's immediately following the beginning of the holiday until after the Christmas Feast. She has already invited me to stay with her, she just wishes your permission as well. In the letter she wrote to me, she extended an invitation to Grandmother and yourself to stay at 12 Grimmauld Place for the same duration. I would like to attend the Christmas Feast, but if you decline, I will be attending anyways. Friends of mine from school will also be in attendance and I hope to see them during the holidays. Thank you and tell Grandmother I say hello._

_Sincerely,_

_Orion Malfoy_

Orion reread the letter a few times before he decided it was good enough and headed up to bed. In the morning, he would send the letter to his father and hope that his father would respond with a favorable answer.

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The following afternoon, Draco received a letter from his son, detailing his desire to attend a Christmas Feast. Draco reread the letter several times before he decided to question his mother about the Feast. Narcissa thought Draco would not mind seeing his aunt again and responded that they would be attending, as well as Orion. Draco agreed, but also decided to approach his mother with another question.

"How would you like to spend a few nights at Aunt Andromeda's house before the actual Feast?" Draco asked.

"I think it would be a splendid idea, but it would be rude to impose ourselves on her while she is preparing such a large Feast," Narcissa moved to sit across from Draco, who was seated at his desk in the study.

"Your grandson just sent a letter, he says hello."

She interrupted him. "Oh it's been so long! Does he say how he's doing?" she asked with excitement.

"He just says hello and that Aunt Andromeda has invited all of us to spend time before the Feast at her house."

"Respond that the three of us will be staying there. I don't think I've spent a Christmas there in almost 25 years. I just hope Andromeda has stuck to a few Black traditions. Never forget, as much as you are a Malfoy, you are also a Black, my son," Narcissa told Draco, as though he could ever forget. She constantly reminded him after his father had been put in jail that he also must live up to the Black name, since the Malfoy name was not as good as it had been.

"I'm sure it will be as grand as you remember. Uncle Ted is a better chef than any house elf and Aunt Andromeda was raised to be a society wife, she knows how to throw society events like you do," Draco recalled fondly on Ted's cooking. While in hiding many years ago, Ted used to bring new recipes for them to try all the time.

Remembering his time in hiding also brought up memories of his ex-wife Ginevra Weasley, who he had not seen in almost ten years. He still could not understand what led to the end of the marriage but knew he was happier. When he thought about Ginny, he always remembered the little girl he left behind. Cassiopeia would be eleven now and in Hogwarts, most likely a Gryffindor like her lovely mother. Just as his son had been in Slytherin, her daughter would be in Gryffindor.

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A/N: Thank you for reading and please review.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Sorry for the delay. There's 3-4 more chapters and then the end of the story. Enjoy and this chapter has not been beta'd.

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The day before the holiday began, after everyone had finished their exams, Alexia, Sebastian, Orion, Fiona, Timothy, Azalea, and Cassie gathered in the library to say good-bye and to wish everyone a happy Christmas. Although they could have just sent their gifts via owl, they instead decided to exchange gifts beforehand. Sebastian also suggested that it might get too expensive if they all bought one another a gift and thought that drawing a name out of hat and buying only one person a gift would be nicer. They all agreed to this, though Cassie and Orion secretly agreed they would buy each other another gift.

First to exchange gifts was Sebastian. He had drawn Fiona's name from a hat and bought her a book on make-up charms. "Marigold likes this book and has pages 37, 41, 56, and 82 bookmarked in her copy."

Fiona then gave Timothy a special student package from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. In it were gags that would be helpful to anyone attending Hogwarts, or any school for that matter. Timothy loved it and gave Azalea a book on Muggle plants and their uses in potions because she loved Herbology and Potions. Azalea pulled out a heavy box, which was filled with novels that Cassie had said she wanted to read but never got around to reading. Now she had her own copy and no excuse. Cassie had drawn Alexia's name from the hat and decided to give her a necklace that matched a pair of her earrings. When Alexia opened the box, she shrieked, which earned her a glare from the librarian. "How did you know I wanted this? It's gorgeous!"

"Your brother thought you might like it. I'm glad you do," Cassie said as she flashed Alexia a genuine smile. Alexia shyly handed Orion a little box that contained a set of Gobstones, a deck of Exploding Snap cards, and a new chess set. Orion thanked Alexia, but knew not to give her too much credit or it would go to her head. Lastly was Orion's gift to Sebastian.

He gave Sebastian a book of hexes and the counterspells, which he said would come handy, knowing the fights that broke out in the Flint household. With all of the presents having been exchanged, Cassie asked what everyone was planning on doing for the Christmas holidays.

"I'm going to be staying here, since my father and mother are visiting my grandfather in Italy," Timothy added with relief. His grandfather was not an interesting person and he would rather stay at school than spend a week with him.

"Our parents are taking us to Switzerland," Sebastian said.

"We get to go skiing in the Alps! Grandmere hasn't taken us skiing in ages!" Azalea interjected excitedly.

"Mother and Father thought it best that Tristan and I spend Christmas at home with them. Since it's just us, and it's Tristan's last year here, they thought this might be the last holiday we ever get to spend together. He's going to be a bum living at home forever though, so it really doesn't matter. It's just an excuse for them to drag us home," Alexia mumbled almost under breath.

"Timothy and I will have to come up with our own enjoyment without the rest of you. Unless you and Orion are staying with at Hogwarts too?" Fiona asked, directing her question towards Cassie, even though it was Orion who answered.

"We're going to our aunt Andromeda's house for a traditional Black Christmas," Orion said.

"A black Christmas? I've heard of a White Christmas, but never a black Christmas," Azalea asked with some confusion.

"Not black like the color, but Black is our aunt Andromeda's," Cassie began, before Orion interrupted her. "And my grandmother's."

"Yes, your grandmother's and Aunt Andromeda's maiden name is Black. So we're going to have a semi-traditional dinner. With the addition of my family, it would be so traditional," Cassie added with sarcasm. The Weasleys were not traditional purebloods and would not behave the same way other pureblooded families did, like the Black Family.

It was almost curfew, so they all decided to head to bed early, knowing most of them had to catch the train early the next morning. Orion and Cassie were the last to leave the library and lingered in the hallways for a little while. At one point, Cassie changed to subject and asked Orion if he was going to be staying at Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted's house until the Feast and if his father and grandmother were joining him. Orion paused, unsure of what to say. He took a deep breath.

"We'll be arriving the night before Christmas, on Christmas Eve. Grandmother says that is an important day to spend with family. Father agrees that he should get to see me a bit before we head on to Aunt Andromeda's home. I'm still not sure who's picking me up from the station." Cassie seemed disappointed with his response, she was hoping he'd be staying there the entire time. She'd miss her friend, but she knew she'd be busy preparing for the Feast and would not have too much time to dwell on Orion.

"Who usually picks you up from the station?" Cassie queried.

"My godfather Blaise Zabini usually does. But he's gone to Italy to visit family this holiday. My father and grandmother rarely leave the house these days because the press always mob them."

"I know what you mean. Harry and Mum don't like to travel out in public more than they have to because Harry, James, and Serena will be mobbed and Mum and I get pushed aside. So we'll usually just go visit relatives. It's more fun that way, then I can play with all of my little cousins," Cassie said with happiness. She was the oldest of all of her cousins and enjoyed being the one in charge of them. Of course, Lyra and Ares, the ones see saw most often, were the most annoying out of all her cousins.

"How many cousins do you have?" Orion asked. He knew the Weasley family was large, but he had no idea how large they really were.

Cassie started to tick off everyone using her fingers. "Well, first there's my oldest uncle, Uncle Bill, who married Aunt Fleur and has two children. Sophie is nine years old and Jacques is six years old. Then there's Uncle Charlie, who married Aunt Nymph and has two children. Lyra is ten and Ares is eight. Uncle Fred and Uncle George are not married yet, but they date people, or so Mum and Harry say. I've never met their girlfriends. Then my uncle Ron married Aunt Hermione and has two kids. David is eight and Emily is four. Emily's the youngest. James and Serena are five."

"I would never be able to keep track of everyone," Orion said, quite impressed with Cassie.

"Luckily no one else wanted a big family like Nana. I think they all knew the struggles Nana and Pop-pop went through when they were younger and didn't want that with their own families. Mum's got the largest family with three kids now, but Aunt Fleur's pregnant again. I don't want Mum to have any more kids. I mean Sophie's going to be starting school soon and she'll have a little brother or sister. What a pain!"

"I wish I had siblings of any age. You're lucky you have so many cousins and aunts and uncles," Orion said wistfully. Whenever Cassie talked about her family, it always made him want siblings, or even more aunts and uncles and cousins who he actually spent time with. Cassie was a cousin, he reasoned, but she was a distant cousin.

"It's overwhelming on holidays. Luckily, it won't be more than the one day with everyone. And you'll be there, you will save me from the crazy people I call my relatives, right?" Cassie pleaded.

"That's what friends are for, so yes, I'll save you. Good night Cassie. I'm riding with Tristan and Alexia on the train tomorrow, sorry," Orion added apologetically.

"It's okay, Azalea and I are sitting together. Sebastian's going off with Julia. Good night Orion," Cassie said as she turned and waved. Orion watched as she headed down the hallway towards the Gryffindor Common Room. As he head back to his own common room, he thought about the holidays and how different they would be from his previous Christmases. First of all, it would be nice to spend time in a friendly household. During Christmas, his father only left his study for dinner, which was eaten in silence. His grandmother thought it had something to do with Orion's mother, but his father never talked about her. Secondly, it would be fun to spend a holiday with a friend, especially one of his best friends.

The train ride home was peaceful, with Orion and Cassie not seeing each other the entire time. At the station, everyone waved their good-byes. Cassie waited patiently, standing on her tippy-toes to look for Aunt Andromeda or Uncle Ted, both who were very tall. Slowly, people filtered off the platform and she spotted Orion.

"Still waiting for someone?"

"I'm just curious who's going to come fetch me." As soon as the words left his mouth, he spotted his grandmother. Cassie turned around and saw Aunt Andromeda. The sisters walked towards each other, not noticing each other, but noticing the children only.

"Grandmother!"

"Aunt Andromeda!"

"Narcissa?"

"Andromeda? Is that you?" Narcissa asked, shocked that her sister would come to King's Cross Station.

"Why yes! I'm just picking up my niece Cassie. She's Nymph's niece, actually, but I looked after her when she was younger. How about you?" Andromeda asked, even though she knew the only possible reason Narcissa would be at the station was for the young man next to Cassie, Orion Malfoy.

"Have you met Orion?" Narcissa asked, then nudged Orion, whispering to him, "Introduce yourself."

"Hello Mrs. Tonks. I am Orion Malfoy. It is my pleasure to meet you," Orion moved to kiss her hand, but Andromeda pushed his hand away.

"None of this Mrs. Tonks stuff, just call me Aunt Andromeda. Cassie and I have to go, but we'll see you both shortly. Good to see you again Narcissa. Nice to meet you again Orion," Andromeda grabbed Cassie's hand firmly and yanked her away.

"Ouch!" Cassie shrieked as Andromeda tightened her grip on Cassie's wrist. "Why did you do that?"

"I'd rather not confront my sister in public. We did not end on amicable terms. The only reason I even invited her to this bash was because you and Orion asked me to invite her and Draco. My nephew is not always my favorite person, whether or not I love his son."

Outside of the station, Ted Tonks was waiting in the car for Andromeda and Cassie. Andromeda let go of Cassie, who crossed her arms in front of her chest and sat in the back with her nose stuck up in the air. She was eleven and thought she could not be treated like a little girl. When they arrived at the house, she yanked her bag from the trunk and dashed up the two flights of stairs to her bedroom. Twelve Grimmauld Place had four floors, a cellar that no one ever used, the main floor that was used for entertaining, the second floor where Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted's bedroom was, and the third floor where the playroom was. The third floor also had three bedrooms, one of which Cassie was supposed to share with her sister, but Serena usually slept in the other bedroom with Lyra. Ares and James shared the remaining bedroom, with any other children sleeping in the playroom. Harry, Aunt Nymph, Uncle Charlie, and her mum slept on the second floor in one of the many bedrooms there.

Tomorrow Harry, James, Serena, and her mum would arrive and after that, Aunt Nymph, Uncle Charlie, Lyra, and Ares would arrive. For now, Cassie had the whole third floor to herself. She threw her bag on her bed, grabbed a novel from her bookshelf, and curled up on one of the couches in the playroom. It was hours before her uncle came in to check on her and she enjoyed the peace. At her home, there was never any quiet, with all the owls coming and going, James and Serena playing games, and the random visitors that just happened to get lost, but always wanting Harry's autograph. Uncle Ted understood she wanted to be left alone and just put the food on the table, leaving her to eat in peace.

Her thoughts drifted to Orion and she wondered when he would finally show up and where he would sleep. In each of the bedrooms on the third floor, there were only two beds in every room. There were plenty of sleeping bags in the playroom, but Cassie didn't want Orion to suffer sleeping in there for several nights. But she realized Aunt Andromeda would have it under control, after all, she was a perfectionist.

Cassie slept well in her own bed, without the normal chatter that went on in the dormitories at Hogwarts. When her mum arrived, Cassie couldn't wait to tell her about all the friends she had made, conveniently leaving out all the Slytherins, knowing her mum did not want her to associate with Slytherins. Her mum had been warning her against Slytherins since she was little, and to go against her mum's wishes would not be a good idea. Harry, on the other hand, encouraged her as much Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted to meet people from other houses. James and Serena just were happy to see their sister again and annoyed Cassie until she agreed to play with them. Later in the evening, her cousins arrived just in time to distract James and Serena and give Cassie some quiet time. Just as she had settled comfortably on her bed, Harry, Uncle Ted, and Aunt Andromeda came in. Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted sat down on the bed, but Harry paced back and forth, something he did only when he was nervous.

"Cassie, have you told your mum about Orion, Draco, or Mrs. Malfoy coming here for the Christmas Feast?" Harry asked. Cassie noticed how nervous he was. Harry was usually a little paranoid, and he earned it, after all, he was hunted most of his life. This was beyond paranoid, he was petrified.

"No, no. Why would I tell Mum? You three made me promise never to talk about him to anyone. Though all of Hogwarts knows we're friends because of what we did at Halloween," Cassie said.

"What did you do at Halloween?" Uncle Ted asked, a little annoyed because he thought they had played a few tricks on people. Cassie waved him off, saying it was not that important, no one was hurt at all and they weren't given any detentions, which seemed to reassure him.

"Sweetie," Aunt Andromeda began, "please don't mention anything about the Malfoys coming. They'll be here in the morning. Until I call you down in the morning, you're to stay in your room. I'll send Orion up here, alright?"

"That's fine. Just keep James and Serena out of the way. Wait, where's Orion sleeping?"

"He'll either be in James and Ares's room or he'll sleep in the guest room with Draco." Aunt Andromeda continued to mutter to herself, "I wonder where we're going to put everyone."

"Good night. I'm sleepy and tomorrow will be a long day." Cassie added the effect o her falling backwards and sleeping. Harry kissed her forehead, while Uncle Ted and Aunt Andromeda whispered their good nights before closing the door behind them. She knew her mum would come up shortly to check on her, but she fell asleep before her mum came in.

Orion had been looking forward to going to Aunt Andromeda's house ever since he approached Cassie with the idea. Now that it was actually the day he was leaving, he was nervous. What would his father say when he found out his best friend was a Gryffindor? A Gryffinor first year girl? Too late for that, he thought. His grandmother was in no rush to get to her sister's house, but his father wanted to be prompt, saying it showed decency and the ability to forgive. His grandmother insisted that she was not raised to be prompt, that she was a Black, going to a Black event and that she was going to arrive fashionably late. In the end, Orion and his father ended up leaving before his grandmother, who was adamant about arriving late. They Flooed over to 12 Grimmauld Place and found Aunt Andromeda waiting in the foyer. She hurried his father into the library, saying the rest of the house was still in disarray, if he wouldn't mind waiting a few minutes there. She added that she wanted to speak to him about keeping her poor nephew away for so long. Then she pushed Orion up the stairs, whispering, "Go up two flights, it's the door straight in front of the stairs, knock before entering." Orion was not about to argue with her, he knew she was pushing him to go hang out with Cassie.

When he arrived at Cassie's room, she grabbed his hand and dragged him into the playroom, where Lyra and Serena were playing with dolls and James and Ares were playing with toy cars. It was a Muggle playroom. She introduced everyone to Orion and dragged him back to her room. She explained that Aunt Andromeda wanted them to wait there until they were summoned. Orion winced at those words. His father never used summoning to mean a good thing, but Cassie didn't seem to notice.

Andromeda had it planned out. While she was making small talk with Draco in the library, Harry would tell Ginny that Andromeda was looking for her and asked Ginny to go to the library. There, Draco and Ginny would have to be faced with reality. After Harry left, he would find Ted, who would bring the children down. With children being friends, Andromeda could not wait for them to discover the truth. If anything she was worried they had already figured it out. They were smart children, she reasoned.

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A/N: Thanks for reading and please review.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Enjoy! The story has been fully written and hopefully will be posted over the next two-three weeks.

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Ginny was in the kitchen preparing some of the food and washing the fine china that would be needed. She tried to count how many people would be coming, but she always lost track. She reasoned that Andromeda always invited more and just continued to wash the china, since it had not been used in many years. Harry, who usually stayed out of Ginny's way when she was cleaning, poked his head in.

"Gin, Andromeda's been looking for you. She wants you to go to the library when you get a moment." Harry turned around and went to look for Ted, who was most likely in the foyer waiting for Narcissa to arrive. Ginny glanced at the stack of dishes she had already cleaned and the small amount she had left. She assumed whatever Andromeda wanted to talk to her about would not take long and then she could finish the dishes. When she opened the grand doors to the library, she was shocked. Not only was Andromeda sitting at her desk, but on the couch sat her ex-husband, Draco Malfoy.

"Ginevra?" Draco asked, shocked that Ginny would be there to. Memories flooded his mind. It had been years since he had seen Ginny and seeing her on Christmas was a surprise. Christmas was always a happy time when he was with Ginevra, but since they had divorced, Christmas was never the same.

"Draco, what are you doing here?" Ginny sputtered out, as she walked closer to Andromeda. Andromeda closed the doors and urged Ginny to sit down.

"Don't talk, either of you. I'm going to give you my reasons for bringing you together even though ten years ago you expressly told me not to do exactly what I'm doing now."

"I do remember that," Draco said.

"Hush. This actually starts many years ago. I'd say about eight years ago. At that time, Ginny, you had been bringing Cassie here everyday for me to watch her. Actually, this was Harry's idea, since Draco had been working with him then. Harry thought it would be okay for Orion and Cassie to meet and Ted and I agreed. For two years, Cassie and Orion played with each other everyday, until you, Draco, moved your family to France."

"Wait, my precious daughter kept this from me?" Ginny asked.

"Hey, our precious daughter? What about my darling son? I've never heard about Cassie from Orion." Draco said.

"Well," Andromeda lowered her voice. "We sort of threatened Cassie and Orion to keep it a secret. Looks like it worked a little too well."

"WHAT? Andromeda, how could you?" Ginny shrieked.

When Harry heard Ginny's shrieks, he knew it was time for him to go get Orion and Cassie and to make sure Ted took Narcissa straight upstairs, so that she wouldn't run into anyone. Charlie and Nymph had gone out to do more food shopping and the other children would stay in the playroom all day if they were allowed.

"Ginny, Draco, please understand. We thought this was best for the children. Though they don't know yet. We were going to let you tell them. But let me finish."

"We should hear her out. This must be important," Draco reasoned.

"Cassie and Orion didn't see each other until they both went to Hogwarts. Orion actually remembered her when she was Sorted and they quickly became friends. I suppose they didn't tell you about Halloween, but Cassie encouraged their friend to dress up and put on a little performance. One of their friends was a dragon who captured Cassie. Orion ended up saving her. Professor Dumbledore says Cassie has united Gryffindor and Slytherin for the first time in centuries. This Christmas Feast was actually their idea. You two should be proud of your children. They'll be here shortly." As soon as the words left her mouth, Orion and Cassie opened the doors to the library.

"Mum?"

"Father?"

"What are you doing here?" they asked simultaneously.

"Honey," Ginny began, "I'd like you to meet your father, Draco Malfoy, and your brother Orion Malfoy."

"WHAT? Mum! How could you keep this from me?" Cassie screamed.

"Father, is this true?" Orion questioned calmly, knowing he would not get an answer if he screamed.

"Yes. It's true. Ginevra Weasley is your mother and Cassie is your sister." Cassie, seeing her father so rigid, decided to loosen him up a little and gave him a quick hug. Then she demanded answers. Ginny and Draco looked back and forth at each before Draco took a deep breath and began.

"Cassieopeia," he started, but Cassie interrupted him.  
"Maybe it's been too long, but my name's Cassandra."

"No, darling, it's Cassieopeia Molly Malfoy. I changed it when I moved to London. That's why Harry and I have always called you Cassie," Ginny replied.

"Wait, Harry knows?" Now it was Draco's turn to be shocked. "I knew you went to his house first, but did you tell him everything?"

"Why wouldn't she tell him everything? They're married." Cassie blurted out.

"You married Potter!" Draco could not believe what he was hearing. "How soon after we divorced did you go crawling back to the Golden Boy?"

"Four years, Draco, four years. Anyway, your father and I met when I was just eighteen. This was in the middle of the war and we knew that we would not survive here. We married a year later in the Muggle world with Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted as our witnesses. For four years, we hid in New York. That's where both of you were born. Two years into our self-imposed exile, Voldemort was defeated but we didn't feel it was safe to return. When your grandfather died, I believe that was the start of our trouble. Your father and I argued so much, especially now that you, Orion, had inherited millions. Cassie, you were born a little later and our arguments increased. That's when we decided to divorce and move back to England. It's been over ten years since your father and I have been in the same room." When Ginny finished, she started to cry and both Cassie and Orion gave her a little hug. Even Draco reassured her by patting her on the back. The four of them sat around talking about their lives, mostly Orion and Cassie talked about Hogwarts and their friends. Ginny was shocked that Cassie had so many friends in Slytherin and Draco was shocked that Orion was friendly with so many Gryffindors.

Andromeda walked in a little while later, with two children trailing behind her. James and Serena ran to Cassie to beg her to play with them. Immediately, Draco looked back and forth between Ginny and Serena and then Ginny and James. Ginny laughed a little.

"Yes, these are my children. Orion, I'd like you to meet your little brother James and your little sister Serena."

"Oh I already met them upstairs. Can we go back to the playroom?"

"You may. Your father and I need to talk." Orion grabbed James's hand and Cassie grabbed Serena's hand. Andromeda closed the doors behind her and allowed the pair to talk.

"I assume Potter is here too?"

"Yes, he's probably spying on us, if he's known about Cassie and Orion this whole time."

"How old are the children?"

"The twins are five now. They grow up so quickly," Ginny said wistfully.

"Yes they do. Who else is in the house? I know my mother is coming, and I think she deserves the truth out of me."

"Well, my brother Charlie and his wife, your cousin, Nymphadora are here with their children Lyra and Ares. Ted, Harry, and Andromeda are the only other ones here now, but the rest of my family is coming tomorrow."

"Orion's godfather, Blaise Zabini, is coming in just for the Feast. How big is your family now?" Draco asked, knowing that the Weasleys were large and must have had children now, if the youngest already had four children.

"My oldest brother Bill married Fleur Delacour and has two children, Sophie and Jacques, and a third on the way. Then you know about Charlie. Fred and George, the twins, are still single. Ron married Hermione and they have two children, David and Emily. Let's see if I get all the ages right. Lyra is ten, Sophie is nine, Ares and David are eight, Jacques is six, and Emily is four."

"Cassie must love this. Orion's always complaining about not having more family. Now he's got probably the biggest family." Draco said, smiling for the first time in a long time.

"Now we have to tell your mother. We might as well have my parents come over now too, they deserve to know as much as your mother. Unless, of course, you've already told her."

"No, I haven't told my mother. She'll be surprised."

"Your mother will be surprised? Just wait until my father gets a hold of you," Ginny added, then using her special voice powers, perfectly mocked her father. "What kind of man are you to abandon my poor baby and leave her with a little baby of her own?"

Draco, who had not known about Ginny's ability, gasped. He looked around the room, checking to make sure Arthur Weasley was not in the room yelling at him right now. Seeing his frustrated face, Ginny laughed before telling him that she had discovered her special ability with voices a few years after they had divorced. She thought it was better not to mention about Cassie's ability, but against if Orion had any special talents, since he was older than Cassie. When Draco said nothing, Ginny continued to talk. Andromeda popped her head in to see if she could do anything, and Ginny simply asked if Andromeda could bring her parents and Mrs. Malfoy in at the same time. Andromeda closed the door behind her and left Draco and Ginny to think about what they were going to say to their parents. It was not going to be easy, they both thought. When Andromeda returned, she led Narcissa, Molly, and Arthur in, allowing Ginny to get up and greet her parents, before whispering to Andromeda to bring Orion and Cassie down in a bit.

"Mum, Dad, Draco and I have something we'd like to tell you."

"Please sit down." Draco gestured to the seats available on the couch. Narcissa sat first with Molly and Arthur sitting as far away from her as possible.

"This concerns all of us, and we're not sure where to begin." Ginny started.

"The beginning is good, dear," her mother urged.

"I'm going to give the quick version first. Draco and I met, fell in love, and married. Knowing our love wouldn't be accepted here, we moved to New York, only telling Andromeda and Ted Tonks, who were our Secret Keepers. Orion Arthur Malfoy was born 13 years ago, just before the downfall of Voldemort. After Voldemort was defeated, we debated returning, but knew we could not risk our son's life. Eleven years ago, Cassiopeia Molly Malfoy was born. We spilt up just after Cassie's first birthday. Orion and Cassie met a few years later and they were the ones who planned this Christmas Feast with the help of Andromeda and Ted." Ginny stopped, thinking that was all, and sat down in one of the large armchairs.

"Any other questions? Orion and Cassie are upstairs playing, Aunt Andromeda just went to get them." Draco asked.

"Ginny, how could you not trust your father and I with this?" Molly seemed upset.

"Mum, Draco and I promised each other not to tell anyone, though I did tell Harry, after all, he was the one who took me in that night. Please don't be angry."

"We love you sweetie," her father replied, "but we also are confused. Why did you change Cassie's name from Cassiopeia to Cassandra?"

"This way it would be less recognizable. Cassiopeia is a traditional Black name. We felt that even though we were separated from our families that part of them could live on through our children."

"Why tell us now though?" Narcissa asked.

"Because it would be hard to keep it from you when you look at the children. Cassie and Orion look like they're closely related to us," Ginny said. At that moment, Cassie and Orion once again walked through the grand doors into the library and the resemblance was obvious when they stood next to each other. Orion bowed politely towards his grandmother. Draco spoke first.

"Orion, Cassiopeia," he started, but was interrupted by Cassie.

"Call me Cassie, please, everyone does."

"Don't speak out of turn," Narcissa admonished.

"Children, these are your grandparents. Your mother and I are going to go have a chat with Mr. Potter right now. Spend some time with your grandparents." Draco said icily. Ginny and Draco moved into the foyer where Harry and Ted were waiting for them.

"How'd it go?" Harry asked.

"As well as it could," Ginny responded, snuggling close to her husband. "My parents took it well. Dad didn't threaten Draco."

"Speak for yourself. My mother is furious. I'll be getting a nice lecture tonight," Draco said.

"Why? I do understand she was raised with blood purity, but I am a pureblood. This changes nothing!" Ginny argued.

"Oh but it does," Ted said mystically.

"What would you know about it?" Ginny yelled.

"Andromeda, my wife, is Narcissa's sister. I think she'd know a little bit about the way her sister thinks. I think you two did the best you could have and the children are happy. That's what matters most."

"I think your parents are just in shock, Gin. First, they now have an older grandchild. Then their precious grandchild's mysterious father is none other than Draco Malfoy, someone they never would have expected. Give them some time. I just want to see the look on Ron's face when you tell him," Harry laughed.

"Oh no!" Ginny put her hands to her face as she said, "Poor Cassie won't know what's hit her. Ron won't ever look at her the same, unless Hermione can convince him."

Back in the library, Cassie spoke up. "Orion, this is Nana and Pop-pop and they're amazing! Nana always lets me bake cookies whenever I go over their house and Pop-pop shows me all the neat Muggle things he's collected. It's okay, you can give them a hug too!" She demonstrated by giving them a big bear hug and smiling. Orion cautiously hugged his newfound grandparents and decided to introduce his own grandmother.

"Cassie, this is Grandmother. She's very quiet." Orion did not know what else to say. His grandmother usually kept to herself.

"It is my pleasure to meet you Cassie," Narcissa said as she held out her hand towards Cassie, who shook her hand before grabbing both Nana and Pop-pop's hands to lead them to the playroom. She motioned for Orion to follow with Grandmother. Once Cassie left, Narcissa commented on her spunk.

"She's a Gryff, Grandmother, what can you expect?"

Meanwhile, Molly and Arthur asked why Orion was so tense around them to Cassie and she replied, "He's a Slytherin. They're all a bit stuffy, but once you get used to them, some of them are nice."

That night, dinner was very tense. Charlie and Nymph noticed this, but didn't ask why. Cassie still talked just as much as she normally did, though she made sure she included Draco and Narcissa in the conversation. She had sat down next to Orion, but they reasoned it was because they were such good friends. Tomorrow was the Christmas Feast, and that was when Ginny and Draco had decided to announce the truth about Cassie and Orion to everyone. Harry excused himself from dinner and took James and Serena upstairs to get ready for bed. Ginny followed behind him. A few minutes later, Draco and Narcissa left. Narcissa, who had been shown her room earlier, showed Draco where he would be sleeping and then called him into her room. She asked him to sit down in the large armchair in the corner, and she paced in a circle before she spoke.

"Draco, why didn't you tell me? Why go into hiding for that silly girl?" Narcissa started out nice and calm, maintaining a neutral face.

"Mother, you didn't believe in marrying for love."

"Yes, and look where it got you!" She raised her voice a little, to where she was just above a whisper.

"Two beautiful children and the best years of my life? I haven't been the same since I left her. Yes, Mother, I left her. That's why I knew I could never have her back. She's even married Harry and has twins with him. I will always have those memories of four years where nothing touched me." Draco recalled fondly on their last Christmas together where Cassie giggled and played more with the wrapping paper than anything else. Orion had just gotten a Muggle train set and loved it at first sight. This would be the closest thing to having his family again.

"Draco, if only you had told me, I would have been able to save you from disappointment!" Narcissa was screaming now. She had lost control, somehow, and slumped down in the chair facing Draco's chair.

"Mother, it's too late to change anything about the past, but now you've gained a granddaughter. You can help her become a society lady. As much as you dislike it, Cassie is as much as a Malfoy as Orion is."

"And she's as much of a Weasley as she is a Malfoy! If anything she's more Weasley. There hasn't been a Malfoy daughter in almost five hundred years!"

"Ginny is the first Weasley girl in almost the same amount of time. Look beyond blood. She is your granddaughter who deserves a chance to get to know her grandmother. Ginny's parents already love Orion as though they've known him his entire life. Why can't you do the same for Cassie? It's Christmas, the season of forgiving," Draco pleaded.

"I will try, but that's all I can promise."

After dinner, Cassie dragged Orion back up to her bedroom so show him pictures of all the people who would be arriving tomorrow for the Feast. She also showed him where she kept her secret stash of candy in her room, feeling he might need some of it to help him through the night. Aunt Andromeda had come in later and asked if Orion would rather sleep in his father's room or sleep in Cassie's room. Before she had finished the question, he shouted that he wanted to stay in Cassie's room and get to know his sister. It felt good to say that, he thought. Orion loved having a sister and not being an only child.

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A/N: Thanks for reading and please review.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N:The story has not been beta'd. If you're interested, let me know. Enjoy!

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Ginny usually said good night to James and Serena and then Cassie. Now she would also have to say good night to Orion. It had been years since she had done it, and it felt nice. Orion and Cassie were in the same room, and just as she was leaving, Cassie begged her to mimic some voices, to show Orion, since he had never heard her many voices before.

She started out mimicking Harry, since she was the best at his voice. "Don't mind me. Sorry, love. Do you need anything? I'm here to save the day!" Cassie giggled a little, but Orion just stared at his mother. Next was Pop-pop's voice. "And this is a plug. Muggles use this for eckeltrickity." Orion, who still did not really know his grandfather, only smiled slightly. It might have been funnier if he had remembered life as a Muggle, but he was too young when he had been introduced into the wizarding world. Aunt Andromeda's voice was next and Orion had heard her voice enough to know how good of job his mother really was at the voices. The funniest when she started doing his father's voice. "How is precious Potter these days? He's already saved the world, he's won the award for Wizarding World Golden Boy since before he could talk………." Just then, the door flew open, and Cassie shrieked, not expecting anyone.

"Father?" Orion asked, barely able to contain his laughter.

"Oh Draco, I'm sorry," Ginny muttered, not really sorry.

"I had no idea you could mimic everyone so well. Continue with your Golden Boy speech, and I'll let you know what needs improvement," Draco said, amused that she was able to mimic him so well. Ginny had been sitting on Cassie's bed and Orion patted a spot next to him on his bed for Draco to sit down.

Ginny turned to face her daughter. "Since you're the only one who's heard me before, who should I do next?" Cassie leaned over and whispered in his mother's ear.

"You think so?" Ginny asked and Cassie nodded. She smiled and grinned devilishly as she pictured Draco's face.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor Mr. Potter. And a detention for saving the world again! My Slytherins have no place to go if you save the world!" she mimicked perfectly in Snape's voice. Orion was laughing hysterically, he had to clutch his stomach because it hurt so much from laughing. Cassie was laughing just as hard as Orion and even Draco managed to smile.

"He's one I don't think you'll ever forget. 'Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?' How was that?" Ginny asked, smirking at that moment. Draco had turned as white as sheet then and sputtered first, though Cassie got a word out first.

"Whose voice was that?" she asked. It was one she had never heard from her mother.

"It's a voice I'll never forget for as long as I live. I bet I got it almost perfect, didn't I, dear?" Ginny smirked, staring Draco.

"Yes," he said meekly.

"Well, whose voice is it? I recognized the other voices, but not this one," Orion said.

"That's because you never met the man. That was my father, your grandfather's voice. Lucius Malfoy. If I remember correctly, it was the first time your mother and I ever spoke."

"Yes it was. 'Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!' was the first thing you ever said to me," Ginny said, mimicking in Draco's voice what he had said.

Draco winced. "Don't remind me. I'm not proud of what I was during Hogwarts."

"You're proud of what you did afterwards?" Ginny asked, raising one eyebrow suspiciously.

"I have two beautiful children because of what happened after Hogwarts."

"Two? I only see one," Cassie said as she stuck her tongue out at her brother.

"It's not nice to tease your brother. I think it's time I left. I've certainly entertained you enough. Sleep well." Ginny walked out of the room only after she had given both Cassie and Orion a hug good-night. Draco had never had this kind of experience and just followed Ginny out of the room without saying a word. At home, his mother would put Orion to bed. When he thought about it, he realized how little contact he had with his own son. Cassie must have had a much better life with the Golden Boy raising her and spoiling her as though she was his own.

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The next morning was Christmas Eve, the day before the feast. Everyone was given jobs, even the children, whose job was just to clean the bedrooms. Cassie and Orion were instructed to supervise Lyra, Ares, James, and Serena, who seemed to have a never-ending supply of energy. Draco and Ginny spent most of the morning discussing when would be the appropriate time to introduce Cassie and Orion, until Harry came in and told them to just announce it after everyone arrived, before the meal. His mother was still trying to recall the proper way to do it and her parents insisted that they do whatever they felt like, just it'd be easier after the presents were opened but before the meal. Andromeda, Nymphadora, Molly, and Harry were busy preparing the food ahead of time. Narcissa, Ted, and Arthur were decorating the house in a traditional wizard theme, following the demands of Narcissa primarily. Every once in a while, Draco and Ginny would help with the decorations, but they mostly tried to find out what happened to each other in the last ten years.

Ginny went into more detail about Cassie's accomplishments, while Draco bragged about Orion's ability to learn languages faster than most people could teach him. Ginny's ears perked up when she heard this. She had not yet told Draco about Cassie's ability to control emotional magic, which Cassie and Harry reluctantly relieved one night. Knowing that her daughter had a special ability, she had always wondered whether Orion would or not. When she asked which languages Orion spoke fluently, Draco began to tick off his fingers.

"First was English, which he spoke with you and I. His nanny spoke French to him, which he picked up rather quickly at the age of four. I believe he was fluent in French by the age of six. My mother, when she gets angry, yells out in Latin, which Orion had learned by the age of eight. He grew bored with Spanish and Italian, which he learned simultaneously until he was nine," Draco started, but Ginny interrupted him.

"By the age of ten, our son could speak English, French, Latin, Italian, and Spanish?"

"Don't look so surprised. Italian, French, and Spanish are related to each other and Latin. It was the year before Hogwarts that he grew really ambitious, trying to learn German, Hebrew, and Yiddish. I believe it took him two years to do, when he only wanted to do it in one. So right now he's in the middle of studying Japanese on his own."

"Can he read, write, and speak all of those languages fluently?" Ginny asked.

"Like a native speaker," Draco answered.

"I shouldn't be surprised," she said simply. "I always had a feeling that there would be something special about him."

"What do you mean?" he questioned.

"Well, you heard my own ability to mimic other people's voices. Cassie has her own special ability," she added, leaving out the part about Harry's wandless magic.

"What can our precious daughter do?"

"She has the ability to control her emotional magic. She is actually quite advanced, because Harry found out and encouraged her to practice all the time. Of course, that means practicing on her brother and sister, as well as her cousins," she said, with annoyance in her tone.

"I hope she decides to practice on anyone who rejects her tomorrow," Draco added in anticipation of tomorrow's big reveal.

"No one will reject her. They'll be madder at me than anyone else. You saw how my parents took it, everyone but Ron will be like that. I take that back. Fred and George will make a joke, Bill will be like Mum or Dad, and Ron will have a fit until Hermione calms him down. I suppose Orion's godfather, a one Mr. Blaise Zabini will take it just as well as everyone else?" Ginny said.

"Blaise will pretend he knew all along, just to look smarter than Harry," Draco replied.

"Why is it always a competition with Harry?"

"Because he's the Golden Boy. It's just what happens," he said with a smirk.

"If you say so," Ginny said, shaking her head.

"And I do," said Draco.

Ginny and Draco bickered like they used to, right after they had gotten married, until Harry interrupted them to tell them it was time for dinner. They slowly walked into the dining room where everyone had already helped themselves and talking loudly so that they could be heard. James, who had tried to be the loudest, screamed for his mother. Andromeda, who had learned the talent of whistling while watching Orion and Cassie, whistled to get the attention of everyone in the room. James quietly asked Harry, instead of his mother, if they could start a new tradition. Ginny and Harry glanced at each other, before agreeing. Cassie, who was paying attention, suggested that they each open one gift.

Andromeda thought that it was a marvelous idea, knowing that the children would all be getting lots of gifts the next morning. Harry added a few stipulations. He said that they could only open one gift each, it had to be under the tree right now, and that they could open it only after everyone was finished eating.

The children all started begging their parents to eat faster, to which the parents responded by eating slower. Draco, Molly, Arthur, Andromeda, and Ted all laughed at the happiness and Christmas cheer that could be felt in the air. Narcissa merely sat there, amazed that 12 Grimmauld Place contained laughter and happiness at all.

Orion begged Cassie to open his gift while she begged him to open her gift to him. Cassie received a beautiful handmade red and gold blanket that had Snitches, Bludgers, and goal posts in the red stripes and broomsticks, Quaffles, and goal posts in the gold stripes. Orion received several translating dictionaries and a new winter cloak. When Orion asked about the dictionaries, Cassie said that Aunt Andromeda had suggested it. Tearing off the paper faster than anyone, James screamed with the delight when he saw the train set he wanted. Harry whispered that he had charmed it just for James. Serena squealed when she opened her gift which was a beautiful doll, with a nice wardrobe to match. Lyra was happy with her complete set of the Wizard of Oz books by L. Frank Baum, a childhood favorite of hers. Ares loved his new beginner's potions set. With children all happy, the parents sent them off for bed.

Tomorrow would be a long day for Draco and Ginny, who would be answering questions about their lives over and over again.

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A/N:Thanks for reading and please review.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: This is the last chapter before the epilogue. I hope you enjoyed the story and the epilogue will hopefully clear everything up.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot idea.

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The children all woke up bright and early the next morning to open their presents. When they ran down the stairs, they made so much noise that it woke everyone else in the house up, which caused a few people to be a little angry. Narcissa Malfoy was not used to waking up early any day, especially on Christmas. Molly and Arthur Weasley loved the joy that came with Christmas from children. With all of their children grown and out of the house, they loved watching the delight in their grandchildren's faces Christmas morning. Harry and Ginny were happy to spend Christmas among all of their extended family. Draco was relieved that it would not be another lonely Christmas in Malfoy Manor. Nymph and Charlie loved seeing everyone's reactions when they opened the presents, and generally raced downstairs with the children, proving they never grew up. Andromeda and Ted loved sharing their house with all of the family, since years ago it was only Ted's family who spent Christmas with them.

Meanwhile, Lyra, Ares, James, and Serena had already started unwrapping many of their presents, flinging the wrapping paper everywhere. Cassie and Orion both waited patiently for their parents to come downstairs. Since this was the first Christmas in ten years that the four of them would be together, Cassie and Orion wanted to make it memorable for both of their parents. Right after Nymph and Charlie settled on the couches, Arthur and Molly came down, each with a camera in their hands.

Molly had a wizarding camera in her hands, while Arthur was experimenting with a Muggle disposable camera. He had bought several, in case the first ones didn't work. After realizing that you were supposed to leave the camera together to make it work, he decided to wait until Ginny came downstairs. Ginny had learned how to work many Muggle things during her time in New York and was constantly explaining things to her father. Harry usually left it up to Ginny to explain Muggle objects because it was more amusing watching her describe it since she would get frustrated easily. Ginny, Draco, and Harry came down next and Harry immediately separated to help James and Serena unwrap their gifts and keep them organized. Ginny and Draco settled next to Cassie and Orion on another couch and Ginny urged Cassie and Orion to open their presents. Andromeda and Ted headed down the stairs, taking pictures to put in a photo album.

Andromeda leaned closed to her husband and whispered, "Doesn't this feel nice?"

"Nothing makes me happier than Christmas cheer with family and friends," he responded. Andromeda pointed to the mistletoe above her head and Ted kissed his wife. Breaking the kiss, he put his arm around his wife and squeezed her gently, smiling as he gazed around the room. The children were happy as they opened their presents and the parents smiled because of their children's joy.

Andromeda grabbed Ted's hand and led him into the kitchen. There, she started to prepare brunch and anything that need to be prepared for dinner when the rest of the family would be arriving. Ted, knowing Andromeda was busy, helped himself to a cup of tea and also poured her a cup. Slowly, the children and their parents, plus Molly and Arthur, headed into the dining room to begin eating the brunch feast that Andromeda and Ted had prepared. Brunch was animated as the children tried to describe everything to anyone who was willing to listen. Draco and Narcissa Malfoy had been quiet through most morning and continued their silence through brunch.

Shortly after three o'clock, Ron, Hermione, David and Emily arrived with a pile of presents, which the children dove into immediately. Once again, there was wrapping paper with little Snitches, brooms, books, cauldrons, and assorted colors flying everywhere. Andromeda tried to keep up with the mess until Ted told her that there would be time later for those things. Bill, Fleur, Sophie, and Jacques arrived next, both showing off their favorite toy that Santa had left at their house. With more presents and more wrapping paper, Ted look at Andromeda to give her an "I-told-you-so" look. Glancing around the room, Andromeda noticed that Draco, Narcissa, and Orion had all left the living room where the gift exchanging was done. As the family made their way in to the dining room, Fred and George arrived with a pile of presents for all of their nieces and nephews.

With the children momentarily distracted as they all received gag toys from their beloved Uncles Fred and George, Ginny creeped up the stairs, where she knew Draco and Orion would be waiting for her. When she saw that Narcissa was up there as well, she urged Narcissa to go join the family for dinner, but to send Cassie upstairs.

During the morning, Ginny and Draco had discussed the details of how they were going to present Cassie and Orion to the rest of the family. Ginny knew it would be hard, but at least her parents would support her, since they had found out earlier. When Cassie came upstairs, she sat down on the bed and folded her arms across her chest. Orion sat next to her and mimicked her. Ginny, who had been gazing out the window, turned around to see her children pouting.

"Why the long faces?" she asked.

"Why did I have to come upstairs, Mum? I didn't do anything wrong! Plus, Uncle Ron is bound to notice I'm missing. He watches me carefully, you know," Cassie responded. Ginny always believed the Ron looked out for Cassie to be a replacement father figure, even though Harry always filled the role nicely.

"Father, you've been awfully quiet. Any reason?" Orion questioned. He knew his father was usually quiet but Draco stood right next to Ginny and gazed out the window, something he did not usually make a habit of doing.

"I'm wondering how much longer I'm going to live," Draco added quietly.

"Don't say such thing in front of the children," Ginny reprimanded.

"Now that I know how protective Ron is of Cassie, it's the end of me," Draco responded.

"That's not true, Dad. Uncle Ron wouldn't hurt you," Cassie said soothingly.

"You must not have met your uncle. He's acts first then thinks about his actions," Draco said with a little disgust as he remembered some of the events from his days at Hogwarts. Ron was known for his short temper, something that ran in the Weasley family.

"A little girl does the same thing," Orion added.

"I do not!" Cassie protested.

"See what I mean?" Orion responded before he started laughing, which earned him a punch from his sister. Ginny yelled at her children to stop, but neither one was willing to stop. They both shouted out insults back and forth, which only caused Ginny to be more worried about today's little announcement.

"Gin, calm down. They will both be perfect when they need to be," Draco said, trying to reassure her.

Meanwhile, everyone sat down and Andromeda began to serve the food when Ron noticed Ginny and Cassie were both missing. Harry said that he would go find them and bring them in. Molly, Andromeda, and Ted continually moved from the kitchen and dining room in order to get all of the food set out in a timely manner. The children once again began to describe all of their new toys to anyone who was willing to listen with the adults trying to maintain the volume to reasonable level. When Harry went upstairs, it took him a little while to find Ginny, Draco, Cassie, and Orion, who had moved from the second floor up to Orion and Cassie's bedroom on the third floor.

"Getting cold feet?" Harry asked in a teasing manner. He knew that Ginny wanted to tell her family, since half of them had already found out, but she was nervous and needed support at all times.

"Harry, don't tease," she admonished.

"What side of the room is your mate Ron on?" Draco asked.

"I'd the enter the door at the bottom of the stairs. Ron's near the kitchen," Harry said simply. Draco heard that and simply laughed. Orion turned and looked at his father, surprised at how much his father was laughing and smiling. This is what Christmas is all about, Orion thought.

When Harry entered the dining room, he simply said that he had found them and they were on their way, leaving out who was actually arriving. Ginny and Draco entered the room first, which caused Ron to jump out of his seat before Hermione reminded Ron that Draco was Andromeda's nephew. Ginny opened her mouth, but no words came out. Draco saw that she was having difficulties finding the right words to say, he decided to start with what they planned on telling everyone.

"There's something Ginny and I have not told anyone before. Fourteen years ago, we left England for New York in order to hide ourselves. We had fallen in love and gotten married," Draco began. He saw the shocked looks on Ginny's brothers' faces and Ginny, who had found her voice, continued before Ron could harm Draco in any way.

"Our secret keeper was Andromeda, though Ted visited often. We needed someone who was close to both of our families, that we trusted, and who could visit frequently."

"It also helped that they knew a little about Muggle life," Draco whispered and Ginny giggled when she heard his little comment.

"Our son Orion was born a year later and he's now thirteen years old. Our daughter Cassiopeia was born two years later and you've all met Cassie. Cassie, Orion, you can come in now," Ginny called out. When Cassie and Orion walked in the door, there were a few gasps heard across the dining room. Hermione kept pushing Ron back into his seat.

"When Cassie was just a year old, we divorced and returned to our old lives. Apparently the idea of this Christmas Feast was Orion and Cassie's idea, since they are friendly at Hogwarts," Draco commented. Draco, Ginny, Cassie, and Orion sat down at their seats, with Draco as far from Ron as possible.

Bill, who ended up next to Orion, said, "You may look and act like a Malfoy, but you've got your mother's smile and that's what counts." Orion blushed and felt at home amongst his newfound family.

"Out of every male on Earth, you had to fall in love with Draco Malfoy, didn't you? Just to spite me," Ron said to Ginny.

"You can't help who you fall in love with," Ted replied as he gazed at his wife.

Ginny, who had expected her brothers to react a little differently, was happy that they seemed to accept Cassie for who she was and that they accepted Orion immediately into the family, pulling jokes on him before he was even able to sit down. After the announcement, dinner and dessert was fairly quiet with a small amount of chatter, which Ginny felt was unusual. Later, Harry thought it was because there was so much new information that everyone just needed a little time to digest it. After dinner and dessert, Andromeda ushered the guests into the living so she and Ted could clean up the dining room and begin the dishes that night, instead of leaving them to be done tomorrow.

Slowly everyone left that night. Bill, Fleur, Sophie, and Jacques left first because Fleur was tired all the time. Ron, Hermione, David, and Emily left next because it was past Emily's bedtime. Fred and George left next because they had another party to attend. Charlie, Nymphadora, Lyra, and Ares were the last ones to leave because they had plans for the next week and wanted to prepare for their holiday. Harry took James and Serena upstairs to get them ready for bed and Molly and Arthur volunteered to help him. Narcissa excused herself, telling everyone it was time she retired. Remaining in the living room was Draco, Ginny, Orion, Cassie, Andromeda, and Ted, who had finished most of the dishes.

"I think that went well," Andromeda started.

"It went better than well, I still have all my limbs," Draco added, which earned him giggles from Cassie and Ginny.

"Ron restrained himself," Ginny replied.

"Aunt Hermione restrained Uncle Ron, Mum," Cassie put in. Orion moved to get out of his chair, but Cassie held him down. She gave him a pleading look, but he seemed to ignore it.

"It's been a long day, I'm going to bed now. G'night Cassie, Night Mum, Good night Father, Night Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted," Orion said, making sure he did not leave out anyone.

"I'll go too," Cassie added. She waved to everyone and gave her mother and father a good night kiss before following Orion up the stairs to the bedroom they now shared.

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Cassie and Orion shared Cassie's room at 12 Grimmauld Place because they wanted to learn as about each other as possible. They were friends, but that was not the same as being siblings, something they had just discovered recently. Tonight would be the last night they would spend together because Orion would be leaving the next day to spend a few days at Malfoy Manor before heading off to some exotic location chosen by his grandmother. He certainly didn't mind because it would give him the opportunity to ask his father questions about his mother and to understand the reasons for splitting him up from Cassie.

This Christmas was the best Christmas Orion could have ever asked for. He had only really wanted a larger family, and he certainly had one of the largest extended families now. No Christmas could ever compare to this one. Orion realized that now his life was complete. He had a loving family and finally was not the only one his own age. Discovering his mother's family was the best thing that ever could have happened.

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A/N: Thank you, I hope you enjoyed this story, and please review.


	16. Epilogue

AN- This is the end. Thank you to everyone who has ever reviewed, I really appreciate it. Thank you again and I hope you enjoy this.

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My father lost his mind after that Christmas Feast. He was never quite the same. Took up drinking a little too much firewhiskey everyday. Bottles of it lined his study. Empty bottles, I might add. I always thought it was because he was finally reunited with his lover and then torn away from her just as fast, knowing that he would never be able to have her back. Grandmother, Mum, and Cassie never agreed with me, but I suppose it was because I was the only one my father ever trusted. I was the only one who saw how fast he descended into his drinking habit. Grandmother tended to be silent after that Christmas Feast, she had thrown herself into turning Cassiopeia (she had always refused to call her Cassie) into a proper society lady to represent the Malfoys with pride, like I had been raised. I think the thing that made her work harder was that Cassie was a Gryffindor, and the wounds of Uncle Sirius were still fresh in her mind, though he had died years ago. Cassie never really knew Father like I did, so I never expected her to understand, but Mum? Mum loved him and lived with him for four years, she should have known how my father, her ex-husband, would have reacted to seeing her again, especially learning about her voice abilities.

He was really shaken up after hearing Grandfather's voice coming out of Mum. That was one of the things he had confided in me before I left for school in my seventh year. Knowing that my mum was forever lost to him and had married his childhood enemy, who all along had been her best friend. When the rest of society slowly learned about Cassie's and my true parentage, for a short time, we were black-listed. Or well, the Malfoy name was now tarnished. I proved them wrong whenever I spoke because I showed the Malfoys had nothing to lose and only made best of what they were given. My father stopped going out in public after that fateful Christmas Feast and left my grandmother and I to the public engagements. Cassie learned slowly, but she never really adapted to becoming a society lady.

Even my godfather had been shocked to learn of Cassie's existence and my mother. Apparently, the only one my father had ever told was Harry Potter in a drunken stupor one night long ago. After my father took to drinking, my godfather let me escape to his house most nights. My grandmother had no idea I was unhappy at home, so it came as a surprise to her when I asked to spend the summer after fourth year at my mother's house. My grandmother agreed, assuming I'd only spend the summer with my mother, which was entirely proper in her mind. In all honesty, I don't think my father ever noticed I was missing.

When I returned to school that year, Sebastian asked where I had been most of the summer, since my father had come many times to his house looking for me. I shrugged it off, telling Sebastian I spent it with my mother and he understood. My father also spent many nights drinking with his father, Marcus Flint. Now that everyone knew about my mum, Father didn't stop telling everyone his woes. When I did not return to Malfoy Manor for Christmas that year, Grandmother was disappointed in me. Because I had spent it with Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted, and not just my mother's family, she accepted it, but demanded I come home that summer.

Of course, I refused her and she went straight to my father to have him force me to stay home. When I told him I wanted to move out and live with Mum, that was the first time he ever hit me. It was also the last night I ever spent in Malfoy Manor for two years.

During the Christmas holidays in my seventh year, Cassie and I stayed at Malfoy Manor because it was to be Cassie's debut as a society lady. She would soon be sixteen and it would be appropriate for suitors to approach my father asking for marriage to Cassie. Cassie approved of this, as long as she was also allowed to meet and date the guy before the engagement was finalized, which my grandmother agreed to. At this point in the time, I don't think my father was very coherent. He was drinking several different types of liquor every night, consuming at least two bottles every day. I trusted Harry enough to tell him that I was worried about my father. Previously, I had told Blaise, who had shrugged it off as nothing, that I shouldn't worry, my father's a big man, he can handle himself. It was clear to me that he couldn't handle himself. Most nights that Christmas I ended up dragging him to bed because he could barely walk in a straight line, let alone the stairs from his study to the bedroom. I had convinced Grandmother not to allow him any drinks the day of Cassiopeia's debutante ball. Luckily, she agreed, since it would not be good for a Malfoy to show up drunk to his daughter's society ball. Especially since this would be the first time in centuries that a Malfoy would have the honor of doing this.

Cassie's ball was boring. I tried to dance mostly with Alexia, Marigold, and Azalea, who were the only girls that I was friendly with that attended. With Cassie's debutante ball, it also meant my father would be more serious about looking for a prospective bride for myself. I had always assumed that he was trying to set me up with one of the Flint girls, considering how often he was at their house, according to Sebastian. Sebastian became my trusted confidante who knew about my problems with my father. At the end of the ball, I left with the rest of the guests, following Sebastian back to his house, where his parents welcomed me with open arms. They loved me like I was their own, they certainly loved me more than their Ravenclaw daughter. I didn't return to Malfoy Manor the rest of the holiday and stayed wherever anyone accepted me, refusing to go to my mother's house. My mother would have sent me straight back to my father, which was the last place I wanted to be. I was seventeen and legal in the wizarding world. Now that I was legal, I had also inherited millions of Galleons.

I only wish I could have done more for my father. Wizards have cures for things Muggles struggle to live with. One thing that is incurable no matter who the person is alcoholism. Unless the person wants to overcome it, there is no success. My father would never have admitted that he had a drinking problem. A Malfoy would never had confronted his flaws and then told someone he had flaws. Well except Cassie, but she was a girl, she didn't count. At least that's what my father always told me.

In April of my seventh year, my father passed away due to alcohol poisoning. There is no spell to revive the dead, as my grandmother sobbed constantly over the next several days. It was the Easter holidays and Cassie and I left to attend his funeral. Mother related his funeral to the funeral of Don Corleone from a Muggle novel The Godfather. Don Corleone was a well-respected Mafia boss and everyone turned out for his funeral. The lines outside of Malfoy Manor reached the gates during most of the viewings. After he was buried, my grandmother pulled me aside.

"I've now seen three Malfoy men die. Your great-grandfather, your grandfather, and now your father. I only wish you the best of luck as the new Head of the Malfoy family. The hardest was burying your father. He knew how to show respect without fear and bribes." Those words hit me like a brick. I was no longer heir to the Malfoy fortune. Since I was legal, I received all of the money upon my father's death, with some going to my grandmother and sister. My mother received nothing since she was divorced and had remarried. Grandmother's words shocked me and I realized I would need to marry soon in order to produce a new heir. If I died suddenly, the fortune would pass on to Cassie. She was not raised to handle it and I don't think she'd handle the pressure. Nana and Pop-pop never seemed to understand me. I always thought it was just because I was not from a completely loving family. After my father's death, I realized they were always cautious because they were afraid of what I might become. They had known my grandfather, who was not a pleasant person at all. The scariest thought to me was the fact that I was barely an adult and controlled a large amount of wealth. My father was barely forty when he died, which was too young for a man who had such hopes and dreams as a child. My grandmother urged me to marry quickly in order to produce an heir. She knew that Malfoy men usually did not live long and would rather not have made my sister the heir. My grandmother saw her family line die out and she did not want that to happen to me.

After the funeral, I returned to Hogwarts and spent a long night talking with Sebastian. Now that Sebastian and I were both legal, the negotiations would begin for our brides. My grandmother was my advisor, I trusted her judgment, after all she had been Head of the Malfoy family between the time my grandfather had died and the time my father returned from New York. The first thing she said about marriage was not to marry for love like my father. I saw my father drink himself to death of love and I would not allow that to happen to me.

"I've narrowed it down to Marigold, Alexia, or Azalea," I said, reasoning that they would be the only ones I would be able to live with in the future.

"If you're going for one of my sisters, go for Marigold. Azalea's not your type," Sebastian said. To most people, it would seem unusual that we would be talking about who we would marry, but we both knew how important it was to our families, especially since our parents had failed. My father was suppose to marry Sebastian's mother, but broke off the negotiations almost immediately after they left Hogwarts. The union between the Flint and Malfoy families was inevitable, even though I had Weasley blood in me.

"How's Tristan's hunt for a bride going?" I asked. Tristan had left Hogwarts nearly four years, and last I heard, was roaming the globe spending his family's vast fortune.

"Apparently, he's given up. You wouldn't mind if I proposed a match between your sister and myself? Right now, I'm choosing between Alexia and your sister."

"Does Alexia know she's being bartered between us?" I asked. She was my friend and I had no intentions of hurting her.

"She's rather happy that it's between the two of us and not some random person. Though she's not too happy about your background," Sebastian added, referring not to the Weasley line as much as the fact that Weasleys tended to be in Gryffindor.

"That doesn't say anything. Your parents are both Slytherins and your sister is a Ravenclaw. Aunt Andromeda was the Ravenclaw among Slytherins. Uncle Sirius was the Gryffindor among Slytherins." I added.

The conversation ended around then because we both fell asleep before long. Cassie had come up to me during the next few days and asked me if there was anything that she could do to make it easier on me, knowing how much responsibility was shoved onto my shoulder since our father died. I said yes, that she could agree to marry whoever approached her. When she said that she had already agreed to this with Father, I was happy. But then I made her write an owl to Mum, knowing that she probably had not told her.

Breakfast was certainly interesting the next morning. Anything that was related to the Malfoy fortune was first sent to Grandmother while I was still in school. I knew it was coming. Nothing can hide the bright red parchment of a Howler. I braced myself for the one that headed straight towards me.

"HOW DARE YOU?" my mother's actual voice screeched. "HOW DARE YOU PUT YOUR SISTER IN THAT POSITION? I THOUGHT I KNEW YOU BETTER THAN THAT! IS THIS WHAT IT HAS COME TO? I WANT YOU TO LET YOUR SISTER OUT OF THE DEAL!" Next was her impersonation of Harry. "YOU KNOW HOW THIS MAKES YOUR MOTHER FEEL! HOW COULD YOU?" Then Harry's voiced jumped, "Orion, I didn't say that. If it makes you and Cassie happy, fine. Just remember you are still a Weasley and you have the freedom to choose. Write your mother sometimes and you won't get one of these from her." Cassie scampered out of the Great Hall, not wanting to face anyone. They would be talking about her for the next several hours and she could not deal with it. I, on the other hand, knew what had to be done. I had to write to my mother and Harry, thanking Harry, of course. First, I needed to talk to Cassie and make sure she understood what she had agreed to. I found her later that evening alone in a corner in the library.

"Cassiopeia?" I asked.

"Orion, please, I'm still just Cassie to you. I am still your sister and also the Malfoy heir. I know what I need to do."

"Do you really? You're going to lose your ties most of Mum's family. James and Serena are old enough to know why. As soon as school lets out, you'll make your decision. If you go home with Harry, then you will be free to marry whomever you want. If you come home with me, then the negotiations will begin." I said calmly in a businesslike manner.

"Yes, I understand. If I go home with you, I want one condition," Cassie said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"What condition?" I asked hesitantly.

"That I have to agree before marrying anyone."

"That's it? Then yes." I reached out and hugged her as she nodded. Cassie was strong and would make it through this. She was just barely sixteen, and already agreeing to something that would determine the rest of her life. Maybe I shouldn't have asked her to do this one thing for me, in fact, I wasn't sure why I had suggested it.

That summer Cassie followed me home, the whirlwind began. Cassie named the morning post "the whirlwind" because so many owls from so many people fluttered in every morning that it felt like a whirlwind. Grandmother and I would sort through the letters one by one. Randomly one morning, Harry Potter stopped by to demand that Cassie come home, or at least write to her mother. He also said that it was tradition to have an engagement party following the betrothal. I assumed it was because he missed his adopted daughter, but he was only interested in Ginny and Cassie's happiness. He was truly concerned for Cassie and I was glad she had someone who did love her in her life.

One night about halfway through the summer, Cassie and I fought after Grandmother had gone to bed. Cassie and I had both been awake eating some dessert when suddenly, she ran out of the room and up the main staircase, shouting back at me. Apparently, she had gotten a letter from Harry begging her to come home because Mum had not gotten out of bed in almost a week. Now for me, if someone had told me my father had not gotten out of bed for a week, I would have asked them why they were telling me this. But Cassie was raised differently than I was and she told me flat out that she was leaving to be with her mother, since I had not done enough for her. She had no proposals, which was not surprising considering that she had just turned sixteen in April and was not considered compatible to some because she was not raised with the same way as the rest of those in the pool, as I referred to it as.

Well, I walked away and went up one of the other staircases to my room. The next morning, I found Grandmother sitting alone at the table, which was unusual because Cassie always got up before me. Grandmother passed me a letter, which had Cassie's neat scrawl on it. I read it quickly. The only important thing contained in the letter was that Cassie had gone home and would only talk to me in person, which would mean I would also have to face my mother.

The next day, Marcus Flint approached me about a marriage between Sebastian and Cassie. The arrangements were to be made between Marcus and I, but I told him that I would like to handle it through Sebastian. Since Sebastian was legal, Marcus agreed. When Sebastian talked to me, I told him that he would need to court Cassie and then she would willingly marry him and be faithful, something that was unheard of in the pureblood society. He accepted the challenge and I knew it was now my turn to find a spouse.

I needed someone who also is faithful, not destroy me, and share similar beliefs. The only person I could think of at the time was my best friend Alexia Wilkes. As the head of the family, I would have to approach Alexia's family myself, and I was afraid that I would be turned down. After my father's death, the Malfoy name lost some respect, though not enough where arranged marriages were unnecessary. There was nothing to worry about, I found out, because her father accepted almost immediately and contacted my grandmother to discuss the wedding, which would take place in September. That would give enough time to be a socially acceptable wedding without seeming too drawn out or too rushed.

That summer, Sebastian visited the Manor often to ask me questions about Cassie, like her favorite color, favorite food, and favorite restaurant. I hoped he would propose to her the traditional way, in order to appease my mother, who was still disappointed that my own marriage to Alexia had been arranged. I did like Alexia and we agreed on many principles, which Grandmother assured as essential and that love will come with time. Grandmother and Harry became my pillars of support the first summer as the Head of the Malfoy family. Harry visited often, usually with little notes from Cassie.

During the summer, Cassie fell in love with Sebastian, though he had not proposed yet. She was just sixteen still and entering her sixth year at Hogwarts. That Christmas was the first Christmas I had ever spent without my father and I felt very alone in the manor. Sebastian had invited me to join his family at their home to celebrate. Later in the evening, he proposed to my sister in a manner unusual for a pureblood, but his parents said nothing. She was happy and the first time, I was happy for her. Azalea had wanted them to get married before Cassie started her seventh year, but Cassie immediately overruled that and said she wanted to wait until she was at least graduated, plus she wanted her mother to get used to the idea. Mum would now at least have time to meet her future son-in-law, unlike my marriage to Alexia, where Mum basically met Alexia the week before the wedding.

When I married Alexia, she had known that she would have to bear a child early because Malfoys tended to die young. I felt guilty because having a child would change her life, as well as mine. I always wished that my son Leo could have been born later in life, but Alexia and I learned to fall in love during her pregnancy. She had become pregnant just after my nineteenth birthday in January. I always wanted siblings growing up and Alexia had always been thankful that she had Tristan, but we both agreed we needed some time to wait for Leo to grow a little older and for us to mature ourselves. I knew how hard it was for my parents and under no circumstances did I want to end up like my father.

James and Serena never seemed to like me after that Christmas Feast. I always wanted to get to know my younger siblings, but they felt that I had stolen their sister away from them, when in reality they had stolen her away from me. They knew her better than I did and I wanted to get to know my baby sister. I suppose that was why we had never gotten along very well, but it might have also been the amount of times Mum cursed me out in their presence. Harry seemed to be the only reason James and Serena even acknowledged me at all.

Years later, I looked back at how my life has changed and I remember thinking that I did not want to end up brokenhearted like my father. I loved my children, after I had turned twenty-four, Alexia gave birth to a beautiful daughter we named Vega. Cassie, who married a few weeks after she graduated, could not have been happier. We both found what we had always wanted, we found the person who we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with. Cassie named her daughter after Aunt Andromeda. The family nicknamed her Andy, since we couldn't very well call them both Andromeda. Little Andy Flint was born two years after Sebastian and Cassie married. With Sebastian being the only male heir of the Flint family, it was up to Cassie produce another heir. Three years after Andy was born little Perseus, a year after my own little daughter was born.

The future would have been drastically altered if Cassie and I had never met when we were little, if we had never suggested the Christmas Feast, if someone had caught the signs of my father's disease, or if Cassie had never agreed to the pureblood tradition. I vowed to raise my children among both traditional and non-traditional ideals so they will not rebel against me, like my own father rebelled against his parents. Life was not always simple, but I realized that simple things are what make everyone's day. A smile. A rainbow. A picture. A Quidditch game. In the end, happiness is what matters most in life. Forevermore, my father started a trend of intertwining between Houses. The barrier between Gryffindor and Slytherin was broken and now, House rivalries are small, with less fights breaking up. Maybe this will create peace for the future, I don't know. All I know is that slowly, I gained my life back and made my life into what I wanted it to be. A happy one.

THE END!

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AN-Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and please review.


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